A Phantom On The Edge
by GhostWriterGirl-1
Summary: When Hiccup saves a mysterious girl with a huge secret falling from the sky, she quickly becomes accustomed to the Dragon Rider way of life as she befriends an unknown dragon, becomes a fellow Dragon Rider and claims a legendary sword. But an ancient evil begins to rise, but only she can stop it. And at the end, will she stay here... or return back to her home world?
1. Chapter 1

**Here's a new story, and it is a Danny Phantom and How To Train Your Dragon crossover! Now, this story is set a few years after Phantom Planet in the DP universe, and after the first season of Dragons Race To The Edge in the HTTYD universe. This story has a character from DP coming into the HTTYD world, but I'm not gonna reveal the identity until the next chapter, but you can guess!**

 **I do not own Danny Phantom or How To Train Your Dragon; Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom and both Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell own How To Train Your Dragon. I only own this story.**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**

 **Chapter 1: The Unexpected Visitor**

It was a beautiful day on Dragon's Edge; the sea was calm and a clear blue, there was not a single cloud in the sky and the wind was gentle and calm. It was a perfect day for a leisurely flight.

An idea that Hiccup was considering, since there seemed to be no trouble, and the rest of the Riders were taking a break.

The brown-haired one-legged Viking looked at his dragon and best friend, Night Fury Toothless, and asked, "What do you think, bud? Wanna go for a fly."

Toothless, after having his head lying on the floor of the landing strip, looked at Hiccup and made a rumbling noise in his throat, deciding.

Hiccup, waiting, looked over to the horizon-and saw a sudden flash of light.

Squinting at the horizon for a better loo, Hiccup saw a vaguely humanoid figure fall from the sky… straight towards the ocean.

Hiccup's eyes widened in alarm.

He leapt onto Toothless and commanded, "Toothless, fly. Now!"

Toothless, also seeing the falling figure and hearing the alarm in Hiccup's voice, spread his wings and leapt into the air, flying straight to the falling figure, who was plummeting to the ocean at an alarmingly fast rate.

But just when the figure was a metre above the water, Toothless managed to reach them and Hiccup caught the figure. Toothless, who had been diving, levelled out and flew back up, hovering on the wind.

"Okay, bud. We've saved him-or her. Now, let's get back to the Edge," Hiccup told Toothless.

Toothless roared in agreement and began flying back to the Edge, as Hiccup looked at the figure he and Toothless had rescued from near-death.

He was shocked, to say the least.

The figure was definitely a girl, and an unconscious one at that. She seemed to be around Hiccup's edge, and looked to be on the small side with a slender build, yet Hiccup could see she had some slight muscle definition. Her hair was raven-black, and most of it was tied up high, before falling to her waist in slight waves. She also had spiky bangs that stood up everywhere, and a long one nearly covered her left eye. She was fair-skinned, and wearing strange clothes; a hooded blue shirt with short sleeves, a longer sleeved white shirt underneath, red trousers made out of a strange material, and weird white and blue shoes. She had numerous cuts and bruises on her, along with a nasty-looking gash that was still oozing red blood a bit on her forehead, but aside from the injuries, the strange clothes, and the different hairstyle, the unconscious girl was undoubtedly…

" _Heather_?"

 **Nope, she's not. She's someone** _ **entirely**_ **different.**

 **Short, I know, but I hope you like it! Also, I hope I got Hiccup and Toothless' personalities right. If not, tell me in your reviews and I'll make them better in the next chapter. And, the next chapter will, hopefully, be longer!**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the next chapter! And in this chapter, we learn the identity of the Danny Phantom character who has fallen into the How To Train Your Dragon World.**

 **Now, onto the story!**

 **Chapter 2: Hi There! Sorry About The Headbutt…**

"Do you think it's _actually_ Heather?" Astrid asked Hiccup.

The girl Hiccup had saved was lying in Hiccup's bed. Her gash on her forehead had been treated and bandaged, as well as most of her cuts. She was breathing lightly, as she was still unconscious, but otherwise, she looked _exactly_ like the Riders' old friend.

"It's possible; she _looks_ like Heather, except for her different hairstyle and her weird clothes," Hiccup answered.

"But where's Windshear? If this girl _is_ Heather and she was falling from the sky like you said, then where was Windshear to rescue her?" Astrid persisted.

"Maybe she was resting?" Fishlegs suggested.

"Or Windshear was taken by Dagur, and Heather was knocked unconscious while separated from her dragon," Astrid argued.

"Or maybe, this is a Heather imposter. Wake up, Heather Imposter, and tell us where the real Heather is!" Tuffnut yelled, shaking the unconscious girl.

"Nice plan, Tuffnut… except she's UNCONSCIOUS!" Snotlout yelled at Tuffnut.

"So? She could _still_ tell us," Tuffnut argued, and then threatened the unconscious girl, "You better talk right now, missy, or I'll bring the chicken into this. And you do _not_ want me to bring the chicken into this."

"Oh Thor," Hiccup muttered, before he said in a louder tone, "Okay, guys! Those are all fair suggestions, but maybe we should wait until Heather, or whoever she is, wakes up and tells us exactly who she is. Snotlout, stay here and watch over her. Call us if she wakes up."

"Why do _I_ have to stay here and watch over her? She's _unconscious_ ," Snotlout complained.

"Just _stay_ here," Hiccup said, and then he, Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins left the room, leaving Snotlout to look after the unconscious girl, and _not_ happy about.

"'Stay here and watch over her.' Why do I _always_ get the worst jobs?" Snotlout complained, as he leaned over the girl in question. "I mean, it's not like she's gonna-"

Suddenly, the girl gasped and she jerked upright… and headbutted Snotlout.

"AGHHH!" both the girl and Snotlout screamed as Snotlout fell down.

"Wake up," Snotlout groaned as he stood up, holding his head.

"Agh, my head!" the girl, who was now _not_ unconscious, groaned as she held it. She looked up at Snotlout, holding his own head, and gasped.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so, so sorry!" The girl apologised, wincing.

"It's okay, Heather. _Wow_. You have a _really_ hard head," Snotlout said to her.

The girl frowned.

"My name's not Heather."

Snotlout blinked and then burst out laughing.

"Oh man, _that's_ good! Seriously, Heather, when did you get a sense of humour?"

"No, I'm serious. My name's _not_ Heather. And who the heck are _you_? You look like Dash, but with darker hair and dressed up as a Viking."

Snotlout had no idea who this "Dash" person was, but it was now clear to him that this girl, whoever she is, was _not_ Heather.

For starters, unlike Heather, who had green eyes, this girl had _blue_ eyes; a really piercing icy blue. Not to mention her strange clothes and her hairstyle…

Anyway, those physical differences, and the way she spoke, it was _very_ clear that she was _very_ different from Heather.

"Uh, sorry. My mistake. You just look _very_ similar to our friend, who's named Heather. Anyway, I'm Snotlout. What's your name?"

The girl seemed to relax and half-smiled at him.

"That's okay. I get mistaken for my brother back home a _lot_. But my name's Danielle, but you can call me Dani, with an 'I'."

"Okay, Dani-With-An-I, how come you were falling from the sky?"

Dani frowned slightly, and was about to answer when Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut charged in, weapons drawn, alerted by Snotlout's earlier scream.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" they all yelled, pointing their weapons straight at Dani.

 **Yes, it's Dani. And it's not Fem!Danny Dani, but Danny's clone Dani.**

 **Does anyone else think that Heather is the CGI version of Dani?**

 **Anyway, things have escalated quickly. What's gonna happen next? You'll have to see…**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Here, we see whether Dani fights Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, or they** _ **don't**_ **fight.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Chapter 3: … And The Judo Flip**

Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut held their respective weapons threateningly as Dani glared heatedly at them while Snotlout looked awkwardly at the others.

"Uh, guys, maybe you should put the weapons down, and-" Snotlout began, but Hiccup interrupted, "Snotlout, we heard you scream. We figured that this girl may have-"

"Uh, _this girl_ is right here! Now, I don't know who the heck you all are, but you better step away before I make you regret it," Dani threatened, eyes briefly flashing green as she clenched her fists.

"Ooo, she's feisty. I like that. But I'm sorry, Heather-Imposter, but if you could stand down and we'll-" Tuffnut started as he walked towards Dani, but the raven-haired girl yelled, grabbed Tuffnut's arm and threw him over her shoulder.

"Or you could throw me over your shoulder," Tuffnut wheezed out. "Oh, I am hurt. I am _very_ much hurt."

"That was a warning. I suggest you leave now," Dani warned. "Unless you want to be next."

"Okay, I like her, even though she's threatening us," Ruffnut said.

"You _like_ the girl who threw your _brother_ over her shoulder?" Astrid asked Ruffnut incredulously.

"Yeah. It's why I like her. That, and her spunk."

"Guys, maybe we should lower the weapons. We're just making the girl more nervous," Hiccup suggested.

"Uh, _the girl_ has a name," Dani said, hands on her hips.

"Oh yeah. Then what is it? Wait, is that a rhetorical question?" Tuffnut asked.

Dani sighed exasperatedly as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh Clockwork," she muttered, before she said out loud, "My name's Danielle, but call me Dani, with an 'I'."

"Uhhh… you want us to call you Dani-With-An-I?" Tuffnut asked.

Dani groaned.

"It's just _Dani_. D-A-N-I. Simple as that."

"So… it's just Dani?"

Dani groaned again. " _Yes_."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?"

Dani just face-palmed.

"Don't worry, Dani, he's like that all the time; insufferable, annoying and irritable," Ruffnut assured the darker haired girl.

"Yeah! Wait… insufferable?" Tuffnut questioned.

Everyone groaned.

"Okay, how about we start over? Hey Dani, my name's Hiccup, and-is there something funny?"

Dani, who had previously been standing on the bed, was now doubled over, trying and failing to hide her snorts of laughter.

"Sorry, I shouldn't, but… _Hiccup_? _Please_ don't tell me _no one_ has at _least_ made a joke about it? Like, what if you have the hiccups, and someone asks, 'Got the hiccups, Hiccup?' I'm really sorry, I shouldn't be making fun. But still…" Dani made a half-snort, half-laughing noise.

"Wow. Dani has a point. Why has _no one_ asked Hiccup that when he has the hiccups?" Tuffnut asked.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?"

"Again, I'm _really_ sorry, Hiccup. I've never met someone named Hiccup before," Dani apologised again.

"Uh, it's okay, Dani. You're probably not used to hearing Viking names," Hiccup said.

"Yeah… you could say that. Anyway, what are all of your names? I promise I won't laugh."

"Okay; this is Astrid. That's Ruffnut and the guy you threw over your shoulder is her brother, Tuffnut-" Hiccup started introducing.

"They're twins, right?" Dani asked.

"Yeah. And you've already met Snotlout," Hiccup finished.

"Yeah… we kinda butted heads when I first woke up," Dani said, pointing to her head as Snotlout rubbed his own forehead.

"She headbutted Snotlout when she first woke up? She's even cooler than I first thought she was," Ruffnut said.

"I guess so. Anyway, since I now know your names, can I ask where I am?" Dani inquired them, getting off Hiccup's bed.

"You're at Dragon's Edge, Dani. It's our base," Astrid told her.

"Cool name for a base. But why did you call it Dragon's Base?" Dani asked.

"Well…"

Before Astrid could finish, a black blur ran into the room and tackled a surprised Hiccup to the ground.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup cried from where he was lying on the ground underneath…

"Oh. _That's_ why," Dani said, her eyes slightly wide at seeing the dragon.

 **And Dani has now officially met the other dragon riders. It looks like Dani will get along with the other riders. And I'm sorry if I got Dani's personality wrong or the other riders, or if Dani was too mean with her reaction towards hearing Hiccup's name. And she has also met Toothless.**

 **What will be her reaction to Toothless and the other dragons? You will have to wait and see…**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter! In this one, Dani meets Toothless properly.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Here there'll be dragons… LITERALLY!**

"Dragons. Your base is called Dragon's Edge because you have a _dragon_ ," Dani said, her eyes still wide as she watched Hiccup get licked to death by the black dragon on top of him.

 _Dora and Aragon are one thing. But an actual living, breathing dragon is another thing entirely._

"Toothless! Hey, easy there bud!" Hiccup exclaimed as he managed to wriggle out from underneath the dragon and stood up.

Dani gasped when she saw his left leg.

"Whoa! What happened to your leg?" Dani asked.

Everyone looked at her and Dani's face reddened.

"Sorry. Probably a sensitive question. You don't need to tell me. Anyway, does anyone in this room realise that there's a freaking _dragon_ standing right there?!"

"Dani, we _do_ know. Don't you have dragons from where you're from?" Astrid asked her.

 _If you count Dora and Aragon, who can change_ into _dragons, then yeah_ , Dani thought sarcastically.

"Astrid, she may not be used to seeing dragons," Hiccup said to the Viking girl in question.

 _I'm used to seeing_ ghost _dragons, not_ live _ones,_ Dani thought to herself.

"Dani, this is Toothless," Hiccup said to her, gesturing to the dragon. "He's a Night Fury, and my best friend. He's also the last of his kind."

"He's really cool. Wait, he's the last of his kind? Poor thing. And, how come he has a red tail fin and is wearing a saddle?" Dani inquired.

"Toothless lost his tail fin, and I replaced it. As for the saddle, it's there because I ride on him," Hiccup answered. Dani's eyes widened.

" _You're_ a _dragon rider_. That's really cool. Are _all_ of you dragon riders?" Dani asked.

"Yep/Wasn't it obvious?/Yeah/Absolutely!" Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut answered in answer.

"Wicked," Dani murmured. She looked at Hiccup and asked, "Hiccup, could I, uh…"

She made a stroking motion with her hand.

"But it's totally okay if you don't want me too. I would _never_ pressure you into doing something that might be uncomfortable for 's just…"

"It's fine, Dani. Nearly all of the kids back on Berk pet him whenever they get the chance," Hiccup allowed.

Dani smiled and moved closer to Toothless.

"Hey, Toothless. Is it okay if I can-"

Before Dani could finish, Toothless' pupils narrowed and he roared in fright, backing as far away as he can away from Dani.

"Whoa. Never seen him react that way before," Hiccup said to Dani, who stood awkwardly. "He's usually pretty friendly."

 _He must have, somehow, felt my ghost half and was frightened by it_ , Dani hypothesised.

"I'm sure he was probably scared by me approaching him, since he's not used to me," Dani said.

"That makes sense. Give him time, he'll- AHHH!"

Hiccup, who'd been standing next to Dani, was now behind Toothless; the Night Fury had dragged the brunette Viking behind him.

After looking back at Hiccup, who was now safely behind him, Toothless faced Dani, growling threateningly at her, and began prowling threateningly towards her, forcing Dani to back away.

"Uhh… does he do this often?" Dani asked Hiccup nervously.

"Not usually. Toothless, what's wrong with you? Why are you-TOOTHLESS!"

The Night Fury had leaped on top of Dani, knocking the raven-haired girl to the floor. She let out a startled yelp and looked up and saw Toothless looking threateningly at her. She looked at his eyes, and saw terror and protectiveness towards Hiccup in his eyes.

 _Okay, he's obviously terrified by me being part ghost and that I might hurt Hiccup because of that. This is going to be difficult_ , Dani thought.

She heard the sound of metal on wood and watched as Hiccup managed to convince Toothless to get off her.

The Night Fury got off her, but looked at her suspiciously, still growling, giving her the message, _If your hurt my friend, you'll regret it._

 _Hear you loud and clear, Toothless_ , Dani thought. _Loud and clear_.

"I'm sorry Dani about that. Toothless is usually not like this, except for when he's protecting me from something, or someone, dangerous," Hiccup apologised to her. He gave her his hand as an offer to pull her up and Dani took it.

"Unless he heard me headbutting Snotlout and throwing Tuffnut over my shoulder," Dani joked, though she _definitely_ knew why Toothless had been threatening towards her.

 _He was just protecting Hiccup from me because he somehow knew that I'm half-ghost, or could sense it_ , Dani thought to herself.

"Like you said before, give him time. He'll probably get used to me being around," Dani said, rubbing her neck awkwardly.

"Probably."

"Hey Dani, do you want to see the rest of Dragon's Edge, and see the other dragons?" Astrid asked her.

Dani smiled eagerly.

"I'd have to be crazy to say no. Heck yeah!"

"Let's just hope the other dragons don't react the same way towards you as Toothless did," Snotlout said.

Hiccup and Astrid glared at Snotlout while Dani gave them a confused look.

"What? I was being obvious."

" _How_ were you being obvious, Snotlout? Dani hasn't even _met_ the other dragons yet," Astrid said to him, folding her arms.

"Isn't it just strange that Toothless reacted that way to her, when she headed towards him? And I bet it has something to do with what I saw, before she threw Tuffnut over her shoulder!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"What did you see, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked him as Dani looked nervously at the ground, rubbing her arm.

"Her eyes turned green. Then, they turned back to blue. And now, Toothless reacted to Dani as if she was a threat. There's something off about her."

 _Not as dumb as he looks. He may not think that I'm half-ghost yet, but best to stop this at the source before my secret is in danger, if what Danny had told me about what happened to him, Sam and Tucker in 1600's Salem is anything to go by._

"Snotlout, maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you? And Toothless may have thought I was a threat because I'm new here," Dani suggested.

Everyone looked at her as Dani looked at the floor awkwardly.

"Uhh… maybe I could now see the rest of Dragon's Edge and meet your dragons?" Dani asked, her tone slightly nervous.

"Of course, Dani. Me and Astrid will give you a tour," Hiccup said and he, Dani and Astrid walked to the entrance of the hut. Hiccup raised the door, and Dani gasped at seeing the blue sea in front of her.

"Wow," she breathed. "Hiccup, you've got one awesome view."

"Thanks, Dani."

"Don't mention it.

They exited the hut and Snotlout yelled behind them, "There's something off about Dani, Hiccup! Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Just ignore him, Dani. I do it all the time," Astrid advised her.

"Well, there's a moron back where I'm from and he's not much. Trust me, underneath all that macho manliness, he's a big softie."

Astrid smiled at her. "I can tell we could be good friends, if you don't need to go back to your village right away."

Dani suddenly became nervous and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"About that… I don't think I'll be able to go back to my village right away."

"Is it far? We could make the flight by dragon-"

"Astrid, I appreciate what you're offering, but right now, I think it would be wiser if I stayed here. _If_ that's okay with you, that is."

"It's okay with me, if you have nowhere else to go, but it's best if you ask Hiccup. He's kinda the leader of the dragon riders."

"Thanks, Astrid."

"No problem."

The two girls smiled at each other before Dani noticed two long poles with half moon-like covers attached to the top.

"Hiccup, Astrid, are those watch towers?" Dani asked them, pointing them out.

Hiccup, who had been walking ahead, turned and looked at the towers as well as Astrid.

"Yeah, Dani, those are watch towers," Hiccup confirmed.

"Then where are the sentries?"

"That's… a good question. Where _are_ the Night-"

Before Hiccup could finish his question, a small black blur tackled Dani to the ground, the dark-haired girl surprised at the sudden attack.

"Terrors," Hiccup finished as he and Astrid watched as Dani's face was licked to death by one of the Night Terrors, who looked _very_ overeager to see Dani.

"Dani, are you okay?" Astrid asked her.

"My face is getting licked to death by a _very_ overexcited mini-dragon who _won't_ budge, but yeah, I'm fine," Dani answered. "Now, mini-dragon, please GET OFF ME!"

For emphasis, Dani quickly made her eyes flash a ghostly green, spooking the Night Terror and causing it to fly back to it's watch tower, shrieking in fear.

"Sorry little guy, but you were overextending your welcome," Dani apologised to the small dragon, her eyes returning back to normal icy blue.

Standing up, she asked Astrid and Hiccup, "I guess that was one of your sentries, right?"

"Yeah," Hiccup answered.

"What type of dragon is it?"

"A Night Terror. They're usually nocturnal dragons, but they serve as our sentries. If someone attacks us, we'll know about it thanks to those dragons warning us," Hiccup explained.

"That's awesome. Wish back home there was an early warning system like that. Maybe…"

Dani looked down, wisely closing her mouth as she finished that sentence in her mind.

 _Maybe Amity Park wouldn't be attacked by ghosts so regularly_.

"Maybe what?" Hiccup asked.

"It's nothing. Just… thinking about my village. I hope it's okay," Dani casually said.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and guessed one thing: Dani's village, wherever it was, was attacked regularly. By what, they had no idea. But whatever it was, it seemed to be even worser than dragons.

Dani looked up at them and, feeling the tension in the air, asked, "So… can I meet the other dragons?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Hiccup answered.

He and Astrid headed to the stables, where Hookfang, Stormfly, Meatlug and Barf and Belch were, Dani following them and hoping that they wouldn't have the same reaction towards her as Toothless did.

...

 _A Few Minutes Later_

"So… what type of dragons are _in_ there?" Dani asked as they walked towards the stable doors.

"Well, my dragon, Stormfly, is a Deadly Nadder. Snotlout's dragon, Hookfang, is a Monstrous Nightmare. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's dragon, Barf and Belch, is a Hideous Zippleback and Fishlegs' dragon-you'll meet him soon-,Meatlug, is a Gronkle," Astrid answered her.

"Those sound like pretty cool dragons," Dani said.

"Thanks."

 _I just hope they don't react the same way to me as Toothless did._

Hiccup slid the metal doors open, and he gestured for Dani and Astrid to go inside.

Dani smiled at him as she walked inside the stables, Astrid and Hiccup following her.

Inside, a blonde, stocky Viking who was washing what appeared to be a bunch of boulders with wings on it looked up and smiled when he saw Hiccup and Astrid.

"Hey Fishlegs," Hiccup greeted.

"Hey Hiccup," Fishlegs greeted back.

Dani looked around and saw three other dragons in separate cells, with one who appeared to have _two_ heads. They looked at her… and then their pupils narrowed.

Dani gulped and began, "Uhhh, Hiccup…"

"Fishlegs, I would like you to meet-"

And then all hell broke loose.

 **Well, it seems like Toothless may or may not know that Dani's half-ghost. And he reacted like Dani is a threat, while the Night Terrors seem to** _ **love**_ **her.**

 **What will be the other dragons' reactions to her? You'll have to wait until the next chapter.**

 **I apologise if I'm making either Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut or Tuffnut too OOC. It's really hard for me to keep them in-character. Strangely, the only character I'm able to keep in-character is** _ **Dani**_ **, but that's because her personality and character is really easy to adapt to a story that is not canon. If I'm making the riders too OOC, please tell me and I'll try to make them in-character.**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter, where we see the other dragons' reactions to Dani.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **All The Dragons Hate Dani… Well, Except For The Night Terrors**

The dragons went, for the lack of a better word, berserk at sensing Dani's presence.

The dragon nearest to Dani, a two-legged bird-like dragon with a horn on it's snout and it had a crown of spikes with blue scales and a cream-coloured underbelly, began squawking and flapping it's mottled blue and yellow wings, pupils narrowed in terror, and flicking it's tail with spine impressions on it frantically as it's neighbour, a black and orange coloured dragon with huge wings and a crocodilian-like head with it's lower teeth sticking out and four black horns also began roaring and flapping it's wings and whipping it's tail around frantically. Across from the bird-like dragon, the two-headed one began roaring nervously and the right head began spewing gas as the left head's mouth sparked with electricity.

 _Okay,_ that's _cool_ , Dani thought, feeling a bit scared herself at all of this dragons being so _frightened_ by her ghost form so much.

"Whoa, Stormfly! Easy girl," Astrid said, heading to the bird-like dragon, which Dani guessed was Astrid's dragon, and trying to calm her down.

Beside the stocky blonde Viking, what Dani believed was a couple of boulders turned out to be an actual dragon; a dragon that was also terrified of her. The dragon whimpered and shrunk to the floor, really scared.

"Meatlug! Are you okay, girl?" The stocky Viking asked the dragon. He looked at Hiccup and asked, "Hiccup, what's going on with the dragons? They were peaceful a minute ago, and now it's like an eel has been thrown into their faces."

"Actually about that… I think it might have something to do with Dani," Hiccup told Fishlegs.

"Dani?"

"That will be me," Dani said meekly, waving sheepishly at Fishlegs.

Fishlegs' eyes slightly widened.

"Hey, aren't you the girl that was unconscious and Hiccup thought was Heather?"

Dani sighed in annoyance. "Yep, that's me."

"And, she's _not_ Heather," Hiccup said, like that bit of information was important.

"Wow; Dani, you actually look a _lot_ like Heather."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"But Hiccup, why do you think that Dani is making the dragons scared?"

"Because Toothless had the same reaction to her a while ago."

"Wait, seriously?"

"I'm not joking. But, at least the other dragons aren't-"

"DANI, GET DOWN!"

Dani, who had been standing in front of Stormfly's cell, immediately dropped to the floor as something blurred through the air where Dani's head had previously been. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw a yellow barb stuck in a wooden beam, and still quivering. She looked back and saw that Stormfly's tail was raised, and the spines she thought were impressions in her tail, were now raised and primed to shoot another deadly barb into her head, or her heart.

"Stormfly!" Astrid shouted, her tone stunned, her eyes wide, as if she was shocked at what her dragon had done.

"And I spoke too soon," Hiccup said, also shocked at what Stormfly had done.

Dani sat up and shuffled to another cell, her eyes wide.

 _Okay, Astrid's dragon hates me._

Her back met a wooden beam and she heard a snarl behind her. Turning her head, her eyes widened in fear as she gasped at seeing the orange and black dragon. The dragon glared at her, still snarling… and set itself on _fire_.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Dani screamed, scrambling away from the flaming dragon, her eyes even wider.

 _THIS DRAGON CAN SET ITSELF ON_ FIRE _?! How isn't it's Rider already chargrilled? How_ can _it set itself on fire? But more importantly… THIS FREAKING DRAGON CAN FREAKING SET ITSELF ON_ FIRE _?!_

Dani heard another snarl and whirled around to see Fishlegs desperately holding on to his dragon, Meatlug, as she tried to break away, snarling and growling as her claws, well, clawed the floor, desperate to go and rip her to shreds. And Dani didn't even need to look to know the two-headed dragon was also on the _Kill Dani!_ Team.

 _Scratch that. ALL the dragons hate me._

"Dani, I think it might be wise for you to get out of here," Astrid advised her as she tried to calm down her dragon, who looked ready to try to impale Dani in the head with a spine shot from her tail again.

"Yeah… that sounds like a good plan," Dani agreed.

She hastily scrambled to her feet and dashed out of there like a pack of hungry ghost wolves… or worse, _Vlad_ … was on her trail. Inside, she could hear squawks, roars, growls and snarls of rage and definitely terror as she leaned against the wall, letting out a ragged sigh.

 _I'm gonna be fully killed before I find a portal back home._ All _of the dragons hate me and want to kill me…_

Suddenly, Dani heard a series of excited squawks and yelped in surprise as five black blues tackled her to the ground, their leader immediately licking her face.

… _Except for the Night Terrors_ , Dani finished her thought, pinned to the ground by most of the Night Terrors sitting on her chest.

"Hey again, Mini-Dragon, and co. Not that I mind the welcome, but would all be so kind as to GET OFF ME!?"

The Night Terrors stubbornly remained sitting on her chest, Mini-Dragon still licking her.

Dani sighed. She could make her eyes glow their ectoplasmic green colour in her ghost form, but not only would it scare all of them a bit _too_ much, she was worried that the Night Terrors' scared squawks might have Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs come out of the stables, and that they might see her eyes before they changed back to blue. The first time she did that trick with Mini-Dragon, she had been lucky that Hiccup and Astrid hadn't seen her eyes change colours. Considering that, being Danny's clone, she had almost certainly inherited his bad luck, she didn't want to push it.

But Dani couldn't see a way out of this _without_ doing something ghostly.

Seeing no other choice, Dani looked back at the stables to make sure neither Hiccup, Astrid or Fishlegs was looking in her direction, and when she saw they weren't, she turned intangible.

Sitting up, the Night Terrors fell right through her with surprised squawks and Dani immediately stood up, turned tangible again and headed for the dragon arena, adding a bit of flight into her steps to get there faster.

It took a while, maybe around thirty minutes, but she had arrived. Panting, Dani rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

She almost had when she heard a familiar growl behind her.

Gulping, Dani straightened, turned around slowly… and saw Toothless was behind her, just a metre away, and was growling threateningly at her.

"Uhh… hey Toothless."

…

 _Meanwhile_

Back in the stables, Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs has finally managed to calm the dragons down. They were still skittish, but now that Dani was out of the room, they had calmed down a _lot_.

Astrid pulled the spine that Stormfly had shot at Dani out of the beam it had been embedded in a second ago and said, "I don't get it. Why are the dragons scared of Dani? Not to mention, they wanted to kill her."

"It's very strange. Meatlug is usually pretty friendly. But she acted like Dani was something to be afraid of, and yet was also a threat," Fishlegs said, standing next to his dragon.

"Look, whatever it is about Dani that is both spooking the dragons and making them feel as if she's a threat, it only seems to make the bigger dragons feel like that," Hiccup said.

"What do you mean by that?" Fishlegs asked.

"Apparently, the Night Terrors _love_ Dani. One of them tackled her and began licking her on our way here," Astrid told him.

"Oh."

"Well, whatever it is, it might be wise if we kept Dani away from the bigger dragons for the time being; just until they get used to her," Hiccup decided.

"Good plan, Hiccup."

"Thanks Astrid. Now-"

"Uh, guys? Wasn't Dani out here a minute ago?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Fishlegs didn't say anything. He just pointed.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other before looking outside as well, following where he was pointing, and their jaws went slack.

On the landing strip were five confused Night Terrors, squawking as they tried to find a certain someone. And that certain someone…

"Where's Dani?" Astrid asked.

However, she got her answer when she heard a roar over at the dome.

The three Vikings shared an uneasy look, knowing who had made that roar… and who he had roared _at_.

Toothless had found Dani.

 **Well, Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf and Belch and even Meatlug are both scared of Dani and they hate her and want to kill her, while the Night Terrors still love her. How will her interaction with Toothless go? Will they have a truce, or will it end badly? You'll have to wait and see…**

 **Hope you enjoyed, and please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter! In this one, we see if Dani and Toothless will have a truce or not.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **A Precarious Truce**

Dani cringed as Toothless roared in her face, the roar blowing her hair back from her face.

When the roar had finished, Dani opened her eyes and saw Toothless glaring at her intently, as if contemplating the most painful way to kill her and make her fully dead.

"Okay. Toothless, I understand that you hate me and are also terrified of me because I'm half-ghost," Dani started, and Toothless snorted as if to say, _You think?_

" _But_ , I don't mean you or anyone else here any harm. I have an idea how I got here, but I don't know when I'll get back to my home. I have no clue how you or the other dragons knew about my ghost half, but I get that you are spooked by it and want to protect yourselves and your Riders from me; I would feel the same in your place. Saying that I'm harmless is a MASSIVE lie, but I don't want to hurt you, Hiccup, or the other Riders and dragons. So, could we maybe have a truce?"

Dani stretched out her left hand, palm facing Toothless. The Night Fury gave her another glare, but slightly relaxed and placed his snout in her hand, as if to say that they had a truce.

Dani gave a relieved smile to him.

"Thanks, Toothless."

The dragon gave her a look as if to say, _Don't mention it_.

He then walked past her, before turning a around and growling at Dani again, like he was saying, _But don't push it_.

"I won't."

Toothless made a sound in the back of his throat and resumed walking away from Dani, until she was the only one at the dome.

The raven-haired girl exhaled in relief, happy that Toothless was willing to at least have a truce with her.

 _Let's hope the other dragons will-_ Dani began to think, but she was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a series of familiar excited squawks.

 _Not again!_

Before Dani could turn intangible or invisible, a small flock of Night Terrors tackled her to the ground yet again.

"Seriously?" she groaned, getting annoyed with all of these Night Terrors wanting to be near her.

Hopefully, they would ease up and leave her alone for however long she was here until a natural portal opened up again and she could go back home. And speaking of that…

She had to ask Hiccup whether she could stay here or not.

 **Short, I know. Please don't kill me for it!**

 **Seems like Dani and Toothless have a truce, and the Night Terrors still love Dani. I know it might be getting annoying, what with Dani being bombarded with Night Terrors for the last three chapters, but I like to think of it as a running gag. When it will stop, I don't know. You'll just have to wait.**

 **Anyway, what will happen when Dani asks Hiccup if she can stay at Dragon's Edge? Will he say yes? You'll have to wait until the next chapter…**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter, and we'll see if Dani will stay with the Riders or not.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Can I Stay Here?**

After Dani, eventually, managed to get out from underneath the Night Terrors, she made her way to the clubhouse that Hiccup and Astrid had shown her and promptly collapsed on one of the seats, exhausted from today's events.

"Ugh," Dani groaned, hand over her eyes, leg swinging over the side of the seat she was sitting on. "What a day."

A clucking sound came from beside her and Dani took her hand off her eyes and saw a chicken looking at her.

"Oh. Hey there. Where did you come from?" Dani asked the chicken, getting off the bench and gently picking up the chicken and stroked it's feathers, the chicken clucking contentedly.

"Are you lost? Where's your owner? Does he know that you're here?" Dani asked the chicken, smiling as she continued to stroke the chicken. "You must be a _very_ naughty chicken, getting out of your coop. I bet you're giving your owner a heart attack right now."

The chicken clucked in agreement.

Dani laughed. "I think you better get back to your owner."

And that was when Dani heard a familiar voice say, "Well, guess we found both Dani _and_ Chicken."

Dani turned and saw Hiccup, Astrid and the other Dragon Riders standing there. The blonde Viking with dreadlocks, Tuffnut, grinned at seeing the chicken in her arms.

"Chicken!" Tuffnut yelled happily. He ran up to Dani and scooped the chicken out of her arms, holding it in front of his face.

"Are you okay, Chicken? She didn't hurt you or anything?" Tuffnut asked the chicken anxiously.

The chicken just clucked.

"Chicken's fine, Tuffnut. I've had to look after some of my aunt's chickens on her farm," Dani told him as she stood up and folded her arms, smirking.

"You sure?" Tuffnut asked her suspiciously.

Dani shrugged, smiling secretively. "I have a way with birds and smaller animals."

That was true. While larger animals wanted to steer clear of both her and Danny, smaller animals like cats, dogs, snakes, lizards, and yes, chickens, adored them, so much so that most animals followed them after school. It made things a lot easier when she needed to get a cat out of a tree, needed to bring home a lost pet, or needed to chase a poisonous snake out of a house.

But, with larger animals… that was a whole different story.

As if to confirm her claim, a Night Terror that appeared to be an albino sneaked up to her and gently butted it's head against her leg, purring.

"And that includes smaller dragons," Dani added. Despite most of the Night Terrors having tackled her to the ground, she gently scooped up the Night Terror and stroked it's scales, making the small dragon purr in content.

Ruffnut noticed the Night Terror being content in Dani's arms and said, "Smidvarg likes you."

"Smidvarg? That's his name?" Dani asked, scratching Smidvarg under the chin.

"Yep. I named him," Tuffnut said, puffing up his chest. Ruffnut's eyes widened at that and she turned to her brother, a frown on her face.

"Uh, _I_ named him," Ruffnut corrected. Tuffnut frowned at her.

"Sis, _I_ named Smidvarg, Smidvarg."

"No, _I_ did!"

"No, _I_ did!"

"I did!"

"I did!"

"Wanna settle this with a fight?"

"Bring it on."

They drew out maces and with battle yells charged at each other. But before they could hit each other, or Hiccup could stop them, a voice shouted, "STOP!"

Everyone looked in the direction of Dani. She had put Smidvarg back on her floor and was now in front of the twins, a hand on their chests.

"Do you two _always_ settle things with violence?" Dani asked them, a frown on her face.

"Uhh… yes?" Tuffnut and Ruffnut answered in unison.

Dani sighed, her frown deepening.

"Have you two tried _talking_ to each other?"

The twins frowned at her.

Dani sighed again and elaborated, "Look, so what if one of you named Smidvarg Smidvarg? Is it really all _that_ important? A name doesn't make a dragon. Sure, it gives them an identity, but does that name _really_ matter?"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at her, as did the other Dragon Riders, before Ruffnut said, "That was _really_ confusing."

She looked at her brother and asked, "What were we talking about again?"

Tuffnut shrugged and the two dropped their maces and walked out of the clubhouse.

Dani shrugged. "That didn't go as expected, but it worked, somewhat."

"What exactly did you do, Dani?" Astrid asked.

"I tried to have them see that the name of the dragon didn't matter; be the mediator. And it worked, somewhat."

"Well, I'm impressed with how you managed to deal with the twins," Hiccup said, honestly impressed.

Dani shrugged again. "It was nothing. I had to be the mediator between two of my friends a few times."

"So… you make peace?" Fishlegs asked her.

"Yes. Isn't that what a mediator is? Making peace between two angry people before things go totally crazy by talking?"

"That sounds wonderful."

"It sounds _weak_ ," Snotlout said. "Who wants to settle things by _talking_? It's better if you settle things by fighting!"

Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs got looks of exasperation on their faces while Dani looked at the floor, her bangs obscuring her eyes.

"Weak you say? Settling things by talking instead of fighting? Is that how _you_ settle things?" Dani asked him.

"Yes," Snotlout answered her, grinning.

It happened so fast, Hiccup was still comprehending it.

Dani lashed out; her hand grabbed Snotlout's right arm and twisted it behind his back as her other hand grabbed the back of his neck and shoved him against the wall. Snotlout let out a yelp of surprise at the attack.

"Well, let me tell you something, Snotlout; violence isn't always needed. Violence can make things _worser_. Violence can cause two villages, who are signing a peace treaty by fighting each other, go to war. Violence is the factor that crumples relationships, destroys peace and fuels blood-feuds and wars. Sometimes violence _is_ needed, but only for protection and defence of your home, _not_ by settling matters in a pair of fisticuffs or prove your dominance over a person. Because violence, when it isn't needed, bloody _hurts_!"

As if to prove her point, Dani twisted Snotlout's arm, causing him to yelp in pain, her eyes as hard and cold as glaciers.

"Look, I _know_ that you're Vikings; I get that you typically settle things with violence. But settling things with violence can lead to chaos, and when chaos is here, people get hurt. Wars and feuds are started. Common sense and reason is thrown out of the window, until all that is left from the remains of civilisation is just a clan of barbarians, hurting even those they love and fighting needlessly. So tell me, Snotlout; is violence worth all that I've said?"

She let go and Snotlout walked away from her and out of the clubhouse, whimpering and cradling his arm.

Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs watched Snotlout walk out and Astrid said, "First the twins, now Snotlout? I like even more than I did before."

Dani rubbed the back of her neck as she smiled shyly. "Thanks. I just wanted to prove a point to Snotlout that violence isn't everything, and that talking isn't weak. By the way, I didn't break his arm; I just twisted it. But I took no pleasure in doing that."

"Still, I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well, I sometimes had to do that when my brother and a former bully of his almost get into a fight. Trust me, you do _not_ want to fight my brother. But I don't like using violence when there's no need for it or it's not in self-defence. I prefer to use other methods."

At that, Dani threw back her head and laughed, a cold, harsh sound. "Wow. If I said that to the younger version of me, I would have called myself crazy."

Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs looked at each other before Hiccup looked back at the laughing girl. Dani was a strange, complex character; she was obviously a good fighter, if her throwing Tuffnut over her shoulder and shoving Snotlout to the wall and twisting his arm behind his back were any indications, but she obviously didn't want to use violence unless she was defending herself, or to prove a point, the latter which she only seemed to use hardly at all. She hated needless violence, that was clear. She didn't want to use her impressive fighting skills to win arguments. And yet… Hiccup was sure what Dani had shown of her fighting skills were just a small percent of what she actually _could_ do, and that she had more than fighting and talking things out up her sleeves to win her battles. She was fearless, confident, and brave, but she was modest, humble, genuine and decent. She was sarcastic and witty, and Hiccup could tell that she used banter and quips in her fights. And yet there was something about her that had caused Toothless to be scared of her, and yet hate her at the same time, and it was the something that had the Night Terrors and Chicken love her. Dani wasn't Heather, as he first thought, not by a long shot, despite their similar appearances. Their personalities were different from one another. And yet… Dani and Heather were also similar to each other besides their looks.

Hiccup must have been staring, because Dani had stopped laughing and now frowned at him. "What?"

Hiccup blinked and stammered out, "N-nothing!"

Dani arched a brow, but didn't say anything.

Astrid and Fishlegs looked at Hiccup, as if they could guess Hiccup's thoughts about Dani.

The girl herself in question, as if sensing the suddenly-tense mood, cleared her throat and asked, "Sorry if I sound rude, but what's for dinner? I'm _starving_."

…

 _Later_

Dani bit into the mutton chop, hiding her cringe. She knew that Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders, being Vikings, would eat this sort of meat, but did it have to taste so _gross_? It tasted like a month-old strip of jerky left out in the sun too long. Basically, her tastebuds were _not_ happy with her, and Dani was nostalgic for meats like beef and pork.

 _Mmm… cheeseburgers… pepperoni pizza… meatloaf… Christmas and Thanksgiving turkey… hot dogs…_

"Hey Dani, you're drooling," Astrid pointed out to her.

Dani snapped out of her meat fantasies and wiped away the drool, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry about that," she apologised. "Just… lost in my thoughts."

Astrid nodded and was about to say something when Ruffnut jumped in and stopped Astrid from speaking, much to the other blonde Viking girl's irritation, and asked Dani a question that she should have been prepared for:

"So, Dani… what are your clothes made out of?"

Dani's eyes widened at that.

She couldn't answer that question! Her clothes were made from materials completely foreign to this place in time(shirt; cotton. Hoodie; possibly some man made fabric. Jeans; denim. Sneakers; fake leather). And more than that, she was kicking herself for not fixing this before it became the problem that it now was.

How could she be so _stupid_?! Clockwork had _always_ told her and Danny that if they accidentally fell through a natural portal and found themselves in a different time period, they should have instantly gotten rid of their modern clothes and gotten into the clothes of that time period. When she first woke up, she should have distracted Snotlout, turned invisible, sneak out and smuggle some clothes from either Astrid's or the twins' hut. But instead, she had stuck around, and now found herself in this pickle.

 _Think, Dani. Think, think, think…_

"They're an, um, unique material to my village, found only on my island," Dani replied. It wasn't technically a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Dani just hoped that answer would stop the questions about her clothes.

Ruffnut appeared to be satisfied with that answer, and returned to eating her mutton.

A second of silence passed and Dani said, "Hey, um, Hiccup?"

"Yeah?" Hiccup asked, his attention focused solely on her.

"Thanks for catching me out of the sky and bringing me here. I owe you my life. And thanks for the hospitality too, even though the larger dragons hate me. I just wanted to ask you, until I find a por-way back home… do you think I could stay here?"

Silence.

Everyone looked at Hiccup and Dani squirmed in her seat, feeling uncomfortable as the brunette Viking looked at her, expression unreadable.

"But it's fine if you don't want me to stay here! I'll leave tonight, if you want me to go, or-"

"Dani, you can stay here."

Dani was so shocked, her eyes almost flashed green. "Wh-what?"

A smile lifted the corners of Hiccup's mouth.

"You can stay here, Dani. We don't cast people out who are looking for a place to stay. And besides, we talked about it earlier and we decided that you could stay here until you found a way back to your home."

"Although I might consider objecting to this from what Dani did to me earlier," Snotlout said, glaring at Dani.

Dani just ignored Snotlout's glare and smiled at Hiccup.

"Thank you, Hiccup. I promise that you won't regret it," Dani thanked. She then looked down at her clothes and asked Astrid, "You wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes lying around, would you? This is kinda my only pair."

"No, but maybe we could find some clothes for you at Berk's markets," Astrid suggested.

Hiccup raised his eyebrow and was about to say something, but Astrid cut in, "Hiccup, we _do_ have to go back to Berk, though. Our supplies are running low."

Hiccup thought about it, then sighed. "Okay. Looks like we're heading to Berk tomorrow. We better get some sleep."

Astrid looked at Dani and grabbed her hand before gently pulling her up from her seat and taking her to her hut, saying, "You can sleep in my hut, Dani."

"Thanks, Astrid," Dani thanked, before frowning. "What's Berk?"

 **Sorry if the ending was cruddy. I really had a tough time writing it.**

 **Anyway, Dani's staying at the Edge! And next chapter, she goes to Berk! What will happen?**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is the next chapter, and here Dani goes to Berk, and something interesting happens to her…**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Welcome To Berk!**

When Astrid woke up the next day at the crack of dawn, she realised that her new roommate was gone.

"Dani?" she asked herself, feeling a bit worried.

Getting out of her bed, she checked the makeshift one that Astrid had made for Dani the night before. She remembered how confused and lost Dani had looked, her normal routine broken by being in this new place, but she hadn't complained and had gone straight to bed. Even so, she had trouble sleeping, and Astrid guessed that Dani was a light sleeper. But during the night, Dani had made no indication that she was going to leave tomorrow.

So why was she gone?

Remembering how quickly Dani had left the stables, Astrid headed in that direction, hoping to saddle Stormfly so that she could do a fly-over of the Edge and the island to see where Dani was. But when she neared the stables, she heard from inside sounds that seemed to be someone cleaning one of the dragons' stables. There was a grunt, and then a familiar voice said, "Cleaning out a dragon's stall _isn't_ as easy as I thought."

 _Dani?_ Astrid thought incredulously. She peered around the door and sure enough, in Stormfly's stall with the Deadly Nadder herself in another cell, was Dani. She had her strange blue hooded shirt discarded on the floor, and the sleeves of her white shirt were rolled up, exposing her slight arm muscles. Her face was beaded with sweat as she cleaned out Stormfly's cell, and judging by the other dragons who seemed happy, their stalls had been cleaned out too, by Dani no less.

Astrid admired the dark-haired girl's work ethic, but she decided that maybe was the right time to interrupt.

"Dani?"

The girl jumped. She instinctively went into a fighting stance, fists clenched, but she relaxed when she recognised Astrid.

"Oh, hey Astrid. I didn't expect you to be up so early," Dani said, grinning.

"I usually wake up pretty early. And it seems that you do too," Astrid said back, leaning on the door frame.

"I didn't really sleep well last night. When I saw that the sky was lightening, I decided that I may as well reach some sort of peace with the larger dragons. I thought about cleaning them, but considering if I even came close to them I would have my arm bitten off or my face burned, I decided to go with the safer option of cleaning their stalls."

Dani brushed back her longer bang, her eyes an intense blue colour as she finished, "That sounded easier in my head than in real life."

"Yeah, it usually does," Astrid agreed, remembering the early days and how hard it had been to clean Stormfly's stall, even now.

The blonde Viking noticed that Dani looked absolutely tired and she suggested, "Hey, why don't you take a break? I think you've earned it."

Dani smiled. "Thanks."

She walked up to Astrid and took the offered pouch of water, drinking it's contents. When she had finished, she handed it back to Astrid, before sitting down on the wooden floor, her back against the door frame.

Dani noticed Astrid looking at her and said, "I know what you are thinking."

Astrid was taken aback. "What do you think I'm thinking?"

"You're thinking why did I clean the dragons' stalls, even though neither you, Hiccup or the other Dragon Riders asked me to," Dani said, which surprised Astrid, as that _had_ been what she was thinking. The raven-haired girl went on, "Well, the truth is, I don't want you or Hiccup or any of the others to feel as if I'm taking advantage of your hospitality, that I'm a guest who wants you and the other Dragon Riders to wait at my beck and call. I want to help around, pull my weight, do some of the work. Be one of those guests who's more of a help than a hindrance."

Astrid nodded. She could understand Dani wanting to help around the Edge while she was staying here; she would probably do the same thing. But…

"I can appreciate that; I think I would probably do the same if I was a guest here. But I think the twins would do the opposite."

Dani laughed. "Yeah, I can imagine that."

"Especially if them being the rulers of this island is anything to go by."

Dani's eyes widened at that.

"Wait, wait, wait. Time out. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the _rulers_ of this island?"

"Yep. According to a claim-stone that's now gone thanks to Meatlug, the twins were the rightful rulers of this island. They had us all do tasks that were really annoying like bowing all the time, paying for landing and leaving, removing the letter 'S' from the alphabet and- why are you laughing?"

Sure enough, Dani was laughing, doubled over as she held her stomach, tears streaming down her face.

"Sorry, Astrid. I'm just imaging you all saying words without the letter 'S' in them. Like saying 'iland' instead of 'island' and 'Tormfly' instead of 'Stormfly', for instance."

A smile crept on Astrid's face; now that she thought about it, saying words that had the letter 'S' in them _without_ the 'S' _was_ pretty funny.

"Yeah, all that. Eventually, we all ended up in one of the dragon stalls, which was the twins 'dungeon'-" this caused Dani to once again let loose another round of laughter-"but they let us out and we became equal rulers of Dragon's Edge, as we had a Fireworm invasion at the time and-"

"Sorry about interrupting, but one question: What are Fireworms?"

"They're small dragons that are so hot that they set anything they land on on fire. And a migration of them was coming here."

Dani winced. "That must have been pretty dangerous, trying to get them off here, not to mention putting out all the fires they started."

"It was," Astrid admitted, "but we eventually got them off the island and moved them to a more rockier island, thanks to the Night Terrors forming into the shape of the Fireworm Queen. And the rest has been history."

Dani shook her head, trying to comprehend what Astrid had told her. "Wow. I'm sorry that you, Hiccup, Snotlout and Fishlegs had to endure Tuffnut and Ruffnut's rule when you guys had to get rid of a migration of little fire-causing dragons."

"Well, we managed to move the Fireworms, and the twins aren't the rulers anymore. And, the Edge is still standing."

"True, true."

The two went into a comfortable silence, Astrid discreetly studying Dani. The blue-eyed girl was a mystery, that's for sure. Astrid liked her, and she admired Dani's fighting skills and her spirit. But something about her had made Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf and Belch and even Meatlug, the friendliest dragon Astrid had ever met, become both fearful of her, and hate her so much that they wanted to kill her. And whatever it was, Astrid wanted to find out, in case something like what happened yesterday happened again.

And to make sure it _didn't_ happen again, Astrid had to ask Dani what _exactly_ had caused the dragons to have such a reaction towards her.

"Dani… how come the dragons were so spooked and aggressive to you yesterday?"

At the question, a guarded look came across her face.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well, considering the dragons wanted to _kill_ you, I think it might be wiser if you-"

"I _don't_ want to talk about it," Dani interrupted. She cast her eyes to the ground, expression still guarded.

That made Astrid more curious to know the reason why Dani had caused the dragons to react that way. She wanted to find out Dani's secret, whatever it is, even though the girl seemed to be willing to keep it with her life.

But, it seemed like Astrid has prodded too far on the subject for Dani's liking. So she moved on to a, hopefully, lighter subject.

"So, Dani… what's your village like?"

Dani, who seemed as eager as Astrid for a change in subject, looked up, her eyes bright and a smile on her face.

"It's great. It's sleepy, and it's small. At first glance, you wouldn't assume much, but my village has a _really_ interesting secret. Because it's attacked regularly by… creatures, but my village is protected by two protectors. Most people who _have_ heard about what attacks my village usually steer clear, but it's a great village. I miss it."

She looked at Astrid. "It's not like Berk, but it's my home."

When Dani asked Astrid what Berk was, the Viking girl told her that it was the Dragon Riders' village. When she had described it, Dani got a wistful look in her eyes, and Astrid had guessed that Berk sounded similar to her village. And now hearing Dani talk about _her_ village, it sounded like Berk, but at the same time, completely different. She was curious, though, at what attacked her village so much it needed _two_ protectors. So…

"Dani, what attacks your village?"

And like when Astrid had asked about what happened yesterday with the dragons, Dani's guard was up and she retreated into her shell, closing herself up.

"It's not important. Forget about it."

Astrid was about to protest, but from the steely look in Dani's eyes, dropped it.

Desperate to change the subject again, Astrid saw that the sky was lightening even further, so much that it appeared to be around the time that Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins woke up. She turned to her guarded companion and said, "We better get organised. It's a long flight to Berk from here."

Dani grinned. "Wanna beat the boys at getting ready first?"

"And Ruffnut."

"And Ruffnut."

Astrid smiled back at her. "Yes. That, and while we get organised, I can show you how to ride Stormfly."

At that, Dani became nervous. "Why would I need to ride Stormfly?"

"Because you're riding with me."

At that, Dani turned pale.

"Uhhh… thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I'm sure Stormfly's a great dragon, but I rather ride a dragon that I know doesn't hate my guts and won't impale me with a barb shot from it's tail while riding it."

"You have a point, but if you can't ride a dragon, how are you going to get to Berk?"

"I'll ride with Hiccup," Dani said. "Me and Toothless have a truce. It's shaky, but he won't kill me. Wary, though, but won't kill me. He's the only dragon I'll be able to ride without worrying that the dragon I'm riding will kill me."

"That's… a good point," Astrid admitted, casting her eyes down.

Dani caught her look and said, "Astrid, there's no need to be jealous."

Astrid scoffed at hearing that. "Jealous? I'm not jealous."

Dani gave her a look before going on.

"Look, I know that, because I'm the girl falling from the sky that Hiccup saved, that you think he likes me, and I like him. But you're wrong. I have no attraction towards him whatsoever, and I don't think he does to me. He actually reminds me of my brother. And I can understand why you would be jealous; the romance between you two is so heavy I can almost see it. But don't worry, Astrid; you have nothing to be jealous about."

With that, she stood up and headed towards the huts.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked.

"To get my things packed," Dani answered, though Astrid could see a gleam of mischief in her eyes. And with that said, she ran off in the direction of the huts, almost disappearing out of sight…

Like a ghost.

 _..._

 _Later_

Dani invisibly sneaked to Snotlout's hut, barely able to keep herself from giggling. She had already packed-some food and water into a leather knapsack-and now she was ready to play a little prank on Snotlout.

Back in her teenage days, Dani was the pranking queen, but now she was in college and on top of her studies, homework and her part-time job as a barista at a local cafe, she had to protect Amity Park as Dani Phantom, so she didn't have any time to prank people anymore.

Now, though… maybe here she _could_ prank people from time to time.

She casually strolled into Snotlout's hut, and looked around for anything she could take, before her eyes rested on a knapsack at the foot of Snotlout's bed. She had to hand it to him, he was an efficient packer, and that knapsack was _perfect_ for her prank.

Grinning slyly, Dani grabbed the pack, extending her invisibility over it and sneaked back to hers and Astrid's hut, where she turned visible again.

An alarmed squawk came and Dani whirled around, fear coursing through her about being discovered, but when she saw who had caused the squawk, she relaxed.

"Hey Smidvarg," she greeted.

The albino dragon looked at her warily.

"It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you," she assured him, kneeling down.

Tentatively, Smidvarg walked towards her. He butted his head against her knee. She began to stroke him and the albino Night Terror was soon purring. Dani smiled at the small dragon before she got to work.

Grabbing the knapsack, she giggled as she made the knapsack invisible and attached it behind her knapsack. She stood up, earning a squeal of protest from Smidvarg, and headed out of the hut, grabbing the knapsack Astrid had packed last night, walking back towards the stables.

…

 _Later_

At the stables, Astrid was outside saddling Stormfly when she heard Dani say, "Catch!"

Astrid turned and caught the knapsack she had packed last night, Dani grinning from where she was standing, holding a knapsack of her own. At her feet, Smidvarg was curled around her, purring as he rubbed his head against her leg.

She walked towards Astrid and looked at Stormfly, the bird-like dragon looking at the secretive girl warily.

"Relax; I'm not going to hurt you or Astrid," Dani assured the dragon, but Stormfly squawked irritably as she eyed Dani, who moved to stand beside Astrid.

"Give her time; she'll warm up to you," Astrid assured her.

"Probably. But, until then, I'm staying around ten feet away from her," Dani said back.

"Good plan."

Dani watched as Astrid finished saddling Stormfly, and asked, "What is it like? Riding a dragon."

Astrid considered this and answered, "It's not like anything else. You feel weightless, but at the same time grounded. Some part of you is scared that the dragon is going to drop you, but another, bigger part of you knows that your dragon won't drop you, because you trust each other. And, you form a bond when you're riding a dragon; it's not like anything else. The person that I know of who has the strongest bond with his dragon is Hiccup; he helped Toothless fly again after his left tail fin was damaged, and in doing so, Hiccup became the first Dragon Rider and he and Toothless forged a powerful bond. It's unrivalled."

"That sounds amazing, able to ride a dragon and have a bond with them," Dani said, looking out to the horizon, before asking, "How _did_ Toothless manage to damage his left tail fin?"

Astrid hesitated in answering, before saying, "That's probably a question Hiccup is better suited to answer."

"Oh."

The two girls sat in comfortable silence, waiting for the others to wake up. An hour later, they did.

Hiccup was surprised to see Astrid and Dani up so early, and the first ones ready, but he paid it no mind and got organised himself. Dani told him that she may be riding with him, since all of the dragons except Toothless hated her and wanted to kill her, and Hiccup agreed with that logic. He spent the next few minutes showing Dani how to ride Toothless and she thought, _It's just like riding a horse_.

Fishlegs and the twins were the next ones up. Everyone was ready to go… until they heard Snotlout yelling.

They all jumped and turned to see Snotlout running towards them, an angry look on his face.

"Someone took my pack!" Snotlout yelled.

Everyone looked shocked; well, except for Dani, who smirked as she prepared to make Snotlout's pack visible, and the twins, who were snickering.

Snotlout, who heard Ruffnut and Tuffnut, stormed towards them.

"Aha! Did _you_ two take my pack?" Snotlout accused them, glaring.

"Now, my burly friend, if we took your pack, you would know about it. We don't prank others without reason," Tuffnut said, and Ruffnut added, "And that reason is whether Loki wants us to prank others, or if we find the situation of the prank funny."

"Quite right, sister."

"So, if you two didn't take my pack, who d-"

"Hey, Snotlout! Is this your pack?"

Everyone turned to see Dani holding Snotlout's pack, an innocent expression on her face.

Snotlout walked towards her and snatched it out of her hands, a look of shock on his face.

"It is my pack! Where did you get it?"

Dani shrugged nonchalantly, expression blank, but the twins were amazed.

"Have we just found… another follower of Loki?" Ruffnut asked. Her brother said, "It seems too good to be true."

"But she is _obviously_ the one who took Snotlout's pack as a prank on him."

"And how she did it, is quite exceptional. If she _is_ a Loki follower, then she has already mastered the art of pranking."

"Quite true."

"Let's see if she's a good liar, shall we?"

"We shall."

The twins watched as Dani lied, "One of the Night Terrors must have taken it during the night. I found it in my and Astrid's hut this morning. I was going to give it back, but until you woke up."

Snotlout and the others seemed to believe the lie, but Tuffnut and Ruffnut could tell she was lying, and they were grinning.

"She has the silver tongue," Ruffnut said.

Tuffnut wiped tears from his eyes and said, "Sister, we have found a Loki follower who is both an exceptional prankster and a masterful liar."

"Tell me I'm dreaming. I _must_ be dreaming."

"If you're dreaming, then _I'm_ dreaming too. And I don't want to _ever_ wake up."

The twins continued to admiringly stare at Dani as Snotlout walked off to get Hookfang ready, grumbling about the Night Terrors.

Soon, the Dragon Riders were ready for flight, Dani sitting behind Hiccup on Toothless, already giddy with the prospect of flying; especially on a _dragon_.

"Dragon Riders, take to the wing!" Hiccup announced.

As if they had done this a billion times(which they did), the dragons unfurled their wings and took to the air, flying towards Berk.

As they began their journey, Dani let out a whoop of joy as she felt the wind on her face, already easing into the enjoyable feeling of flying.

Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins looked at Dani, but they eventually focused back on what they were seeing in front of them, also smiling at the feeling of flying.

The flight to Berk had begun.

…

 _Later_

As they flew, Dani couldn't stop grinning.

Sure, flying on her own was great and gave her a blissful feeling of peace and joy, but flying on a dragon, and feeling the animal's muscles underneath her work to keep their flight steady and up in the air left her in awe.

Dora had always told her and Danny that it was always a different feeling when she flew as a dragon instead of in her humanoid form. Now, Dani finally got it, in a way.

She watched as Hiccup used his metal leg to help steer Toothless in another direction, amazed by how well Rider and dragon worked to fly seamlessly together. It made Dani feel both awestruck… and envious.

Dani had never minded flying on her own, but now, especially after what Astrid had told her, she wondered what it was like to fly on a dragon of her own, to have that trust that the other Dragon Riders had with their dragons. She _wanted_ to ride a dragon of her own, but she knew it was impossible; nearly every single large dragon was both afraid of her and hated her, and the dragon who _didn't_ want to kill her already had a Rider, and their truce was shaky at best. Still, Dani couldn't help but hope that, while she was here, she could find a dragon of her own to ride and become a Dragon Rider herself.

Wishing to get rid of those yearning thoughts, Dani looked at the scenery around her, and was amazed all over again.

Never back home, even in national parks she had stayed at before she was adopted, had such clear blue skies and such clean air. The sea sparkled like liquid sapphires, free of pollution. Sea stacks rose out of the clear waters at random intervals, and Dani could swear she saw the shapes of dragons moving underneath the waters.

Dani reached up as far as she could and tried to touch a cloud. Surprisedly, she could, and the cloud was so fluffy, she felt like it could be used for a pillow.

She was stunned, by this beautiful landscape, so free of the pollution from the future and untouched by human progress.

 _Sam would love this, seeing the ocean so blue and beautiful,_ Dani thought. She wasn't as much of a nature-lover as Sam was, but she could appreciate nature's beauty in it's most purest form.

And seeing all of that, and getting a crazy feeling on her stomach, gave her an idea.

Dani slowly stood up, causing Toothless to yelp at the sudden shift in weight, but she wasn't causing him any harm. Thanks to her half-ghost status, Dani was lighter than most women her age. As she balanced herself, a smile made it's way on Dani's lips and she spread out her arms to either side of her, like the Christ statue in Rio de Janerio, and threw back her head as she shouted, "WOO-HOOO!"

At her shout, Hiccup turned-and his eyes widened in fear at seeing her standing on Toothless.

"Dani, sit down!" Hiccup hurriedly said.

Dani, at seeing the fearful expression on Hiccup's face, sat back down, a sheepish smile on her face, though she was still feeling the earlier excitement just seconds before.

"Sorry, Hiccup. I didn't mean to scare you. I just _really_ like flying," Dani apologised.

 _That's an understatement_ , Dani thought, referencing to her last sentence.

"I can tell. But, maybe a little warning next time, please? You could have hurt Toothless, or yourself, or you could have fallen off."

Dani grinned sheepishly again, although she was internally rolling her eyes; because of her light weight, Toothless was in no danger of injury, and if she fell off, she could always fly to steady herself. But still, she appreciated Hiccup's concern for both hers and Toothless's safety. "Okay. I'll warn you next time when I think about doing another crazy stunt."

Hiccup rolled his eyes exasperatedly at that, but Dani could tell he was grinning.

A couple of hours later, Dani noticed that the sea stacks were getting more widespread, and she even spotted a couple of fishing boats, the fishermen on them dragging in their catch with nets.

 _Wow; nets_ are _more efficient than fishing poles_ , Dani thought as the dragons flew past. She was tempted to wave, but she didn't want to make a fisherman lose his hard-earned catch, so she looked towards her-and gasped.

In front of her, was an island surrounded by conical Viking statues. On the island was a village of simple wooden huts, almost like Viking homes in her History textbook. Boats were docked at the harbour and roaming across the village, mingling with the Vikings, were dragons. Hundreds of them. Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, dragons that looked like smaller, four-legged Monstrous Nightmares with big bug-like eyes, all flying around, totally peaceful...

Dani gulped, turning as pale as a sheet.

Astrid, who noticed this, flew as close as she could to her as Stormfly would allow and asked her, "Dani, are you okay? You look really pale."

"What? Oh, I'm fine. Totally fine. Absolutely fine," Dani replied back, making herself calm outside, but inside, she was freaking out.

 _OH MY GOSH! As soon as I land, all those dragons are gonna start panicking, and then they'll start trying to kill me! And then_ these _dragons are gonna start trying to kill me too! I'm gonna be dead in a minute-_ fully _dead! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!_

Dani must have started hyperventilating, because Fishlegs asked her, "Are you _sure_ you're okay, Dani? You're breathing really fast."

At that, Dani realised that she _was_ beginning to hyperventilate. Calming herself down, she took a few deep breaths and smiled breezily.

"I'm fine, guys. Just felt that my chest was a bit tight," Dani assured them.

That didn't help relieve their looks of concern, so Dani continued smiling at them, before she turned around to face Hiccup's back, and her smile dropped into a terrified look.

As soon as she landed, the dragons will go crazy with fear and hatred towards her.

…

 _A Few Minutes Later_

They landed in the centre of the village. Almost immediately, the villagers began whispering excitedly at the return of their fellow Vikings, but those whispers turned to ones of curiosity as the villagers saw Dani get off Toothless.

Dani, thanks to her ghostly enhanced hearing, heard those whispers as clear as day and those, plus the curious looks the villagers were giving her, made her feel uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see all of the bigger dragons squawking and growling in fear, edging away from her as fast as they could. Honestly, Dani couldn't blame them

 _Ghosts_ are _scary things,_ she thought. Even _she_ was afraid of her powers, at times, and that she might become Vlad. Or worse…

As Dani was contemplating whether or not to risk her secret and turn invisible so that she could make a quick getaway, a booming voice shouted, "HICCUP!"

Dani yelped, startled, as her eyes flashed green in terror before going back to normal blue. She, along with Hiccup and the other Riders, turned in the direction where the voice came from… and Dani let out a squeak at seeing the giant of a man walk towards them.

He was about as tall as Dani's father, Jack, and nearly as wide as him, but this man was more burly and muscular. He had a bushy red beard that had a few streaks of grey in it, an iron helmet on his head with two long horns sticking out on either side, blue eyes, a strong nose, and wearing a long green tunic, a large brown belt with a runic design on the buckle, a metal scale-like skirt, brown pants and brown boots, brown bracers on his wrists and a brown fur cape. He was obviously the Viking chief, and there was no doubt he was the strongest Viking here; even Dani believed that, though she had ghostly super strength, he could crush her if he wanted to.

But the large Viking's attention wasn't on her. It was on Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled at the Viking chief. "Hey… Dad."

Dani's eyes widened in shock.

" _Dad_?!" she echoed, looking at Hiccup in shock. "That's your-no way, he is-he's your _dad_?!"

Dani was shocked. No way could that burly, giant Viking man be Hiccup's dad. But, then again, her father was taller and larger than Danny, and Danny himself was pretty scrawny. Muscled, yes, from years of ghost-fighting, but still a little bit on the scrawny side. So, maybe she wasn't one to judge.

Hiccup looked at her and said, "Yes, he's my dad. Don't worry, Dani, you're not the first who was shocked at learning that."

Dani, realising she was still wide-eyed, blinked and managed to have her eyes get back to normal size and said back, "Sorry Hiccup. It's just… wow."

Hiccup's dad, who seemed to have noticed her finally, asked Hiccup, "Son, who's this?"

"Dad, this is Danielle, or Dani, as she likes to be called. Anyway-"

"Danny? Isn't that a man's name?"

"Uh…"

"Yes, it _is_ a boy's name, but _my_ name is Dani. With an 'I'," Dani said, stepping out from behind Hiccup to look his dad in the eye. "And before you ask, it's just Dan _i_. Not Dani-With-An-I."

Hiccup's dad looked at her with an unreadable expression, and Dani began to feel nervous, that she had done something wrong.

"Hiccup," his dad started, "what were you saying before?"

Dani let out an internal sigh of relief as Hiccup continued on speaking, before his dad interrupted him.

"Well, anyway, I first met Dani when I saved her when she was falling out of the sky. She was unconscious, and injured. After I caught her, I brought her back to the Edge. Despite a misunderstanding that we had when she woke up, I said that she could stay with us until she found a way back to her village. But, she said she only had those clothes to wear, and Astrid suggested that maybe she could find some clothes here. Considering that our supplies were running low, we decided that we might as well do both things. And now, here we are."

"Hmmm…" Hiccup's dad said. Dani looked worriedly at Hiccup, beginning to worry.

However, her worries were put to rest when he said, "You did the right thing, Hiccup, saving her. And, I like her. She seems like a nice girl, with just a bit of spunk. Reminds me of Astrid."

"Not really. Well, maybe a little," Dani said, causing Astrid to smile.

"Well then, Dani, welcome to Berk! I'm Stoick The Vast, chief of the Hooligan tribe. You've already met my son, Hiccup, and the other Dragon Riders. You are welcome here, but if you betray us, make no mistake the consequences of betrayal will be harsher than you'll ever imagine. Got it?"

Dani gulped and stammered out, "G-got it, Chief Stoick."

She walked back to stand beside Toothless, breathing shakily. The Night Fury gave her a glare, but allowed her to stand beside him. Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch, however, gave her a wide berth, looking at her warily.

Stoick, noticing this, got a look of suspicion on his face as he said, "Hiccup."

Hiccup turned to his dad at the mention of his name and said back, "Yes, Dad?"

"Son, why are the dragons so wary of Dani?"

"Uh, I don't know for certain, but something about Dani scares the dragons, and yet also makes them hate her. Yesterday, nearly every single dragon tried to _kill_ her. But…"

"But what?"

"It's only the _larger_ dragons who hate her. The Night Terrors _love_ her. She could barley go more than ten feet without one swarming her or following her. I think it might be the same with the Terrible Terrors."

As if to prove his statement correct, a Terrible Terror walked up to Dani and rubbed it's head along her leg, purring. Soon, around a herd of Terrible Terrors, following their leader's example, swarmed Dani, covering her from head to toe.

"Not again!" she groaned as she toppled to the ground, buried under a mound of Terrible Terrors, their contented purring like a rumble of thunder.

"I see what you're saying, son. But, just in case the larger dragons are rightfully scared of her, keep an eye on Dani, to see if she means harm to Berk. Just in case."

Hiccup nodded; he had been thinking of keeping an eye on Dani too. She seemed to be trustworthy, but she was just too secretive. He didn't know whether she had a good reason or not to keep secrets, but it was better if he discreetly kept an eye on her, just to be safe. The way she made the larger dragons both scared and aggressive… there was something about her to make the dragons act like that. Something… _off_. Something she was determined to keep secret.

Something that had made Hiccup consider keeping an eye on her, in case she was a danger to the dragons and Berk… or worse, was an ally of Dagur The Deranged.

"I'll keep an eye on Dani, Dad. But she seems to be trustworthy," Hiccup said to his father.

"But, we can never be sure now, son, with Dagur out there," Stoick reminded his son.

Hiccup had to agree with his father on that.

"Well, I best be off. Chief duties to do. You and your friends get whatever you need for the Edge. Bye, son."

And with that, Stoick walked back to the Great Hall, to conduct his chiefly duties.

"Bye, Dad," Hiccup said back. He looked back at Dani, still buried under the mound of Terrible Terrors, and walked towards her to help her, but when he got there the Terrible Terrors were flying off her, scared away.

Dani sat up, and Hiccup swore her eyes had been fading from green to blue, before she looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, Hiccup. Man, those Terrible Terrors love me as much as the Night Terrors back on the Edge."

"That they do," Hiccup agreed. He held out a hand for Dani to take so that she could stand up and she took it, her weird shoes making squeaky noises on the grass.

Dani brushed off some stray grass on her red trousers and blew one of her bangs back, before smiling at Hiccup again.

"So, Hiccup…" she started, before her smile turned into a frown. "When were you going to tell me you were the son of the _chief_!?"

As if to emphasise that, she punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Hiccup exclaimed, rubbing his arm. He looked at her and returned, "When are _you_ going to tell me and the other Riders your secret?"

At that, Dani withdrew into her shell, her face hard and expressionless.

"I have my reasons for keeping my secret a secret," Dani evasively answered.

"What reasons?"

"Really important reasons that are none of your concern!" Dani snapped, eyes glinting as hard as ice.

Hiccup and the other Riders looked at Dani in shock, the dragons tensing up in case they needed to attack Dani. At seeing the reaction, Dani's angry look became shocked, her eyes wide.

"Oh my gosh. I-I didn't mean to snap like that. I'm really sorry."

Hiccup, recovering from his shock, said calmly, "It's okay, Dani."

Dani, though, shook her head.

"No it isn't," she said. She rubbed her arms as she added, "I'm sorry for snapping. I don't like people continuing to prod at things I don't want them to continue on prodding. As for reasons… I can't tell you my reasons. I _can't_. So don't ask me to tell you my reasons."

There was a spell of silence. Dani, noticing the tense atmosphere, decided to change the subject.

"Come on, let's do what we came here to do."

Suddenly, as quick as that, a flash of eagerness entered her eyes, replacing the shock, seriousness and anger in them.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to wear Viking clothes."

…

 _Later_

The Dragon Riders-and their unexpected guest, Dani-spent most of the day gathering supplies and getting clothes for Dani to wear, which Astrid and Ruffnut attended to.

While the boys got the supplies, Astrid and Ruffnut rushed Dani to the nearest clothing stall. There, the stall-owner took one look at Dani's clothes and said that they were, "Too bright." Dani looked offended at this, but accepted that she had to wear clothes that were more… duller, than the shirts, trousers and strange shoes she was wearing.

Ruffnut and Astrid, however, kept on constantly arguing as they tried to help Dani pick out clothes she would like; Astrid with the practical style, Ruffnut with the flashy style. In the end, Dani had asked them to wait outside as she picked out her new clothes, before heading into a change room.

When she came back out, Astrid and Ruffnut were stunned speechless.

Dani was wearing a brown leather vest-like shirt with short sleeves and a hood attached, the shirt laced up. Underneath, she wore a mist-blue shirt that was almost the same colour as her usual hooded shirt, only a shade darker, that had sleeves that reached midway to her forearm, black cloth bracers with the cloth between the second and first fingers on each hand and grey cord wrapped around them, and the left bracer being shorter than the right bracer, a brown leather belt with a buckle like Tuffnut's belt buckle, her usual red trousers, which were tucked in her fur-lined brown leather boots, a brown cord wrapped around each boot. Her raven hair, in it's ponytail, was more unruly than before, along with her bangs, and she now had a side-braid, the braid behind her ear and touching her shoulder.

She looked really, really nice in Viking clothes.

"Whoa," Ruffnut said, amazed.

"I guess we should have left you to choose out what you wanted earlier," Astrid said.

Dani gave her a raised eyebrow that said, _You think?_

"These clothes, apart from my trousers, reminded me of what I usually wear," Dani admitted, looking over herself.

"Speaking of your trousers, why did you keep them?" Astrid asked.

"The stall-holder said, although the colour is still too bright, the material they're made out of is unlike anything he has ever seen, and is tougher than most material," Dani answered, smirking at that. "But, I didn't want to argue with him. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't feel comfortable in anything else _but_ my usual trousers."

"Well, you look really good, Dani," Astrid complimented. Dani smiled at that.

"Thanks Astrid."

"The boys are gonna drool over you," Ruffnut stated. Astrid glared at her while Dani just smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Ruffnut!"

"What? It's true! And considering how good Dani looks in those clothes, it's a viable possibility."

As Astrid was about to say something back, Dani cut in, "Astrid, Ruffnut, maybe we should go back to the others now. Y'know, just in case."

The two Viking girls agreed that was the best course of action, and that said, the three of them walked to where they had left Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut; at the food stall. There, the stall-holder said that they had gone to Gothi's for medicinal supplies, but they should now be at the docks, getting some fish for the dragons.

The girls thanked the stall-holder and headed to the docks. Sure enough, Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut were there, helping to put fish into baskets that were easy to carry for the dragons.

As soon as the boys saw Dani in her new Viking clothes, Ruffnut's prediction _almost_ came true; Hiccup and Fishlegs were looking at Dani in stunned amazement, while Snotlout and Tuffnut were _nearly_ drooling.

A few compliments later, Hiccup informed them that they had all the supplies that they needed, but as they were walking back to the dragons, Astrid had a look of realisation and stopped.

"Wait."

They all stopped and looked at the blonde Viking girl, confused.

"What is it, Astrid?" Hiccup asked her.

"We can't leave Berk yet," she said. Astrid turned to Dani and added, "Look, I know you're really good at fighting, but…"

"But what?" Dani asked her friend, confused.

"But you need a weapon."

Come to think of it, although it wasn't probably needed, Dani _could_ use a weapon. Considering it was highly unlikely she would be using her ghost powers a lot in this time period, having a weapon could help; she couldn't rely on her fighting skills all the time. So she nodded at Astrid's suggestion and said, "Okay. Let's find me a weapon."

…

 _Later_

Hiccup, Astrid and Dani were walking towards Gobber's forge/armoury, to find Dani a suitable weapon. The others were back with the dragons, prepared to leave as soon as Dani, Hiccup and Astrid came back.

The three young adults walked into the forge and were quickly greeted by the village blacksmith himself, Gobber the Belch.

"Ah, Hiccup! Astrid! Who's yer friend over there?" Gobber asked, pointing to Dani with his hook hand.

"That's Dani. We, um-" Hiccup started, but Dani cut in.

"Long story short: Hiccup saved me when I was unconsciously falling out of the sky and took me to Dragon's Edge. I woke up and despite a misunderstanding, I'm now staying at the Edge. We're here because the Edge's supplies were running low, and I needed a change of clothes. We're here now because I need a weapon. And that's basically it," Dani summarised.

"Ah. So _you're_ the girl who's been scaring the larger dragons and making them hate you," Gobber said, realisation in his tone.

Dani cringed slightly. "Yep, that's me. The girl who scares dragons and also makes them hate her."

"Well, then. What weapon would yer like, Dani?"

"Uh… you guys choose," Dani said, before she backed away to look at the forge.

"Okay then! How 'bout an axe?" Gobber suggested, showing Hiccup and Astrid a double-bladed axe.

"I don't think Dani's an axe girl, although that _is_ a nice axe," Astrid rejected, admiring the axe's surface.

"Then a mace?"

"Dani doesn't strike me as the bludgeoning type either."

"A bow and arrows?"

"No; Dani doesn't seem like the shooter type," Hiccup said.

Meanwhile, Dani was looking at all the random weapons strewn on a nearby bench. Her fingers carefully trailed over the hilt of an axe, before they came to something soft and leathery.

Piquing her interest, Dani looked at the leathery thing. It was a leather scabbard, red in colour, embossed with a skull and a design that Dani faintly recognised. Slowly, as if she was drawn to it, she grabbed the scabbard, as Hiccup, Astrid and Gobber talked about weapon choices for Dani.

"Crossbow?"

"No."

"Dagger?"

"Actually… no."

"Club?"

"Again, Dani isn't the bludgeoning type."

"Yer kids are making this really hard! I've gone through nearly every single combat weapon! All that's left is spears, bolo balls, and-"

 _Shink!_

At hearing the scraping noise of iron and leather, Hiccup, Astrid and Gobber turned around…

… And Gobber's face turned pale as a sheet.

"I don't believe it," he muttered.

Dani was holding the weapon by it's leather-wrapped pommel, the skull on top glinting in the faint light of the forge. The hilt was plain, as were most Viking weapons of this sort, but the blade was the most interesting.

It was a long, sharp thing, honed to razor deadliness. It was such a dark colour, it was almost black, and silvery runes gleamed on it's surface. Dani's eyes were transfixed on the weapon, her hands gripping the pommel as if they were made for it, made for holding the-

"Sword. Dani's a sword person," Hiccup said. He looked at Gobber's pale face. "Gobber?"

"I don't believe my eyes… it's not possible… it's _her_?"

"Gobber, what are you saying? Dani chose a sword. What's the big deal?" Hiccup asked Gobber, confused. Astrid was, too.

Gobber looked at him and said, "That's no ordinary sword, Hiccup. That's-"

"Equinox," Dani murmured, still staring at the blade of the sword.

As soon as Dani said the sword's name, the runes glowed green.

 **Cliffhanger!**

 **I know, long wait, but this chapter was really hard to write.**

 **And Stoick and Gobber have made their appearances! I hope I kept them in-character and true to their personalities. It's really hard to keep characters as awesome as those two in-character.**

 **Well, that last part was ominous. What's the sword Dani chose, Equinox? Why was Gobber so fearful of it? And why did its runes glowed green when Dani spoke its name? All your questions will be answered in the next chapter…**

 **As you can tell, I've got a cover image for this story! It is Dani, in her new Viking clothes, her eyes glowing green, and holding, yep, Equinox. But who's the dragon with her? You'll have to find out that answer later on in the story…**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Sorry about the long wait and the brutal cliffhanger I gave you guys! But, here is the next chapter of this story! I hope you like it!**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Equinox**

" _Equinox_."

The runes on the blade lit up in an eerie green colour as soon as Dani said the name of the sword, washing her face in green light as she looked transfixed at the blade. Gobber looked at all of this, face blanched of colour, while Hiccup and Astrid stared in silence, both spooked and fascinated at what was happening.

Suddenly, just as it happened, the runes stopped glowing green, and Dani blinked, obviously out of whatever trance she had fallen into.

She held her head and said, "Whoa, what hit me?"

She looked at the sword in her hand and looked to see Hiccup, Astrid and Gobber still staring at her.

Dani nervously chuckled and said, "I, uh, think that the sword picked me."

"It didn't just _pick_ you, Dani," Gobber said. He levelled her with a serious look and finished, "It _chose_ you."

Dani's eyes widened and she looked at the sword, obviously stunned, and Hiccup asked, "Gobber, why are you so shocked that this sword, Equinox, chose Dani?"

Gobber looked at him, then back at Dani, then back at him again and answered, "That's a question that will be better answered by Gothi."

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other semi-worriedly. If Gobber, the village blacksmith, was willing to let _Gothi_ , the village shaman, talk about this sword, then there must be something more than meets the eye with that sword.

Dani, meanwhile, frowned and asked, "Gothi. That's the medicine woman, right? Why do we need to go to her to talk about this sword? It's just a sword, right?"

Gobber didn't answer. Instead, he headed out of the forge. Hiccup, Astrid and Dani looked at each other before they followed after him, Dani sheathing her new sword into it's sheath.

The four headed towards Gothi's hut, Gobber muttering about Equinox, Hiccup and Astrid getting more confused and more interested by the second, and Dani marvelling her new sword. Soon, they arrived, and began walking up the steps, Dani amazed at how someone could live that high up.

 _It's like a treehouse… before treehouses were even possible,_ Dani thought as she climbed up the stairs. Although it was obvious to her that people walked up these stairs to go to see this Gothi to cure them of whatever sickness they had, or for advice, she couldn't help but worry over making a mistake and falling off these stairs and dying all the way.

 _Don't look down,_ she chanted to herself. _You've flown hundreds of feet above the ground. If you fall, you can always slow it by flying, even if it exposes your secret. But still, don't look down, Dani. Don't look down._

Soon, they arrived at Gothi's home/workplace. The village shaman herself was sitting out front, stroking a Terrible Terror, which was purring contentedly on the old woman's lap. However, as soon as Dani came onto the platform, the Terror perked up, and scrambled off Gothi's lap and flew up to land on Dani's head, purring.

Dani groaned. "Okay, this is getting annoying."

Gothi looked up… and saw Dani. She gasped and, standing from her seat, shuffled over to the dark-haired girl, her blue gaze locked on Dani's equally icy eyes.

Dani looked uncomfortable and whispered to Hiccup, "Why is she staring at me like that? She's creeping me out." _And I'm half-_ ghost _,_ Dani added in her mind.

"Maybe it's because of your sword," Hiccup whispered back.

Gobber, unaware of the staring contest Gothi was having with an increasingly uncomfortable Dani, greeted, "Hey, Gothi!"

Gothi, hearing Gobber, broke out of her staring contest with Dani and focused on the hook-handed blacksmith.

"My, don't you look well today!" Gobber complimented, trying to stall. Gothi just gave him a blank look.

Gobber tried to smile, before he gave up and said, "Look, we're here because, well… because the sword's chosen _her_."

He pointed at Dani.

Gothi once again refocused on Dani, and this time, Dani got the feeling Gothi wanted to see Equinox.

"Erm, sure, Gothi," Dani said uncomfortably, before she drew out Equinox. The silvery runes gleamed on the blade. Gothi gasped again, before she used her staff to draw in the dirt on the platform.

Dani, confused, asked as she sheathed her sword, "Uh, what's Gothi doing?"

"Gothi's not really much of a speaker. She communicates through symbols that she draws," Astrid explained, as Gobber began to translate.

"In all my life, I would never have imagined to see the one chosen to wield the spoon of life and death," Gobber translated. Gothi glared at him and hit him on the head with her staff. "OW! Sorry; the sword of life and death."

Dani, who had snorted at Gobber being hit by Gothi's staff, felt her eyes go wide and her mouth go agape. Hiccup and Astrid had similarly stunned looks.

"The sword of life and death?" Astrid asked.

As Gothi began to draw more symbols, Dani got a dreaded feeling in her stomach.

"Equinox was created to battle an enemy that could not be killed by anything living or dead. This enemy would, if it escaped it's realm of death, send the living world into one of death and darkness, and could achieve this as nothing either living or dead could kill him. So, as a precaution, Equinox was made; a blade forged in the fires of death, and cooled in the waters of life. A weapon, designed to kill an enemy that could not be killed, destined to be wielded by someone who waddles the line between life and death," Gobber translated. Once again, he was hit on the head by Gothi for his mistake and corrected, "Who walks the line between life and death. You know, your writing isn't as clear as it used to be."

Gothi threatened him with him being hit again by the staff, and Gobber refrained from commenting anymore.

Now Dani was feeling sick to her stomach, while Hiccup and Astrid had confused looks on their faces.

"Walks the line between life and death? But that's impossible; _no one_ can be alive and dead at the same time. It's a paradox," Hiccup said.

 _And that paradox is standing right next to you,_ Dani thought. However, she said out loud, "I don't know why Equinox chose me if it's supposed to choose someone who's both alive and dead; as far as I know, I've been alive all my life. Maybe it got sick of waiting for someone who's both alive and dead and decided to choose the first person who gave it attention?"

To compliment her sort-of lie and weak attempt at a joke, Dani smiled nervously.

The Terrible Terror on her head squawked as Gobber, Hiccup, Astrid and Gothi looked at her, Dani growing increasingly more nervous, especially with Gothi _still_ staring at her in that unnerving way of hers.

 _And the prize for the "Worst Lie Ever" goes to Danielle Fenton!_

Gothi, continuing to stare at her, made a _Follow me_ , gesture, and shuffled back to her hut, breaking her stare.

Dani let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in and noticed everyone was looking at her, obviously expecting her to follow the creepy medicine lady.

"Uhhh…" Dani said intelligibly.

Gothi turned to look back at her and again made the, _Follow me,_ gesture, although more impatiently then the first time, and then disappeared into her hut.

Dani, now knowing that Gothi _wanted_ her to follow her into her hut, said, "I should probably go into the hut."

And with that said, Dani walked to the hut with dread in her steps… and entered inside.

 **Again, super sorry about the long wait! Anyway, I hope I made it up with this chapter, as it explains more about Equinox. I hope I got Gothi right, too.**

 **I promise that the next chapter will come out faster!**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD!**

 **I'm so, so sorry about not updating this story! I've been juggling other stories, creating new ones and right now doing a collab with the awesome AstroGravityPhan, I've hardly had any time to write a new chapter of A Phantom On The Edge. But, I** _ **will**_ **finish this story! I intend to finish it, and I will, I swear.**

 **So, here's the next chapter!**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Gothi Knows…**

Inside the hut, Dani looked nervously at Gothi as she asked, "Uh, not to be rude or anything, but why did you want me to follow you in here? If it's about Equinox, then-"

"You _really_ need to work harder on keeping that secret of yours a secret, if you're going to be staying with us. Us Vikings can be a bit superstitious, especially when it comes to the supernatural," Gothi suddenly said, interrupting Dani.

Dani blinked, her mouth agape.

"You can speak?" she asked.

Gothi chuckled.

"Just because I rarely speak and communicate through symbols doesn't mean that I'm mute, dear. But yes, I can speak."

Hearing that, Dani looked down sheepishly, rubbing her arm.

"Er, right, sorry. I just thought you were-" Dani apologised, before she cut herself off, her eyes widening when she remembered what Gothi had said earlier, about working harder to keep her secret a secret. As if… _she knew_?

"Err, what secret do you mean, Gothi? I don't have a secret. Especially a secret that concerns why Equinox chose me. Why would you think that I have a secret?" Dani rambled nervously, smiling weakly.

Gothi looked at her in that unnerving way of hers and said, "You may be able to fool everyone else, Danielle, but you can't fool me. I know that Equinox can _only_ choose someone who is both living and dead, which brings to question as to _why_ it would choose someone who is seemingly fully alive. Until I looked into those eyes of yours, that is. Eyes that appear to both alive _and_ dead."

Dani gulped as Gothi continued to stare at her, shuffling towards the raven-haired halfa girl and causing her to step back.

"I understand, you don't want anyone else to know, and honestly, I can't blame you. But, if you _do_ intend to tell someone, you can tell Hiccup. He can be trusted to keep a secret, considering he kept Toothless a secret from all of us until he saved him in the arena ages ago. And after that, you can work on telling the others. But it will be best you tell them than they find out. Less chance of them trying to fully kill you if you told them before they find out. But until then, you can trust me to keep your secret a secret. After all, almost nobody can read the symbols I draw anyway, not that I would reveal it in the symbols though."

Dani, who looked a bit relieved, asked nervously, "And what secret do you think that I'm hiding, Gothi?"

At hearing the question, Gothi smiled knowingly.

"I may not know how or why it happened, and I don't want to know, but I _do_ know this. The secret you're hiding is the reason why Equinox chose you, Dani Fenton… or should I say, Dani _Phantom_?"

Dani's eyes widened as her entire body went numb with shock, and all that she could think of was, _Oh crud._

 **Yes, Gothi knows that Dani's half-ghost and that she's also not from the HTTYD world. Then again, that medicine woman is like Clockwork; it's like she knows** _ **everything**_ **. I swear she knew that Hiccup had befriended a dragon before Toothless saved Hiccup in the arena in the first** _ **How To Train Your Dragon**_ **film.**

 **Anyway, I'm so, so sorry about the wait! But, I promise that the next chapter will come out soon after this. I swear!**

 **I hope that I didn't make either Gothi or Dani OOC, and if I did, I'm so, so sorry! I try to keep them in-character as much as possible!**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back!**

 **Here's the next update of A Phantom On The Edge! I hope you enjoy it, especially after that sort-of cliffhanger I gave you guys with chapter ten!**

 **Onto the story!**

… **And Is Willing To Help Train Me**

 _Gothi knows. I don't know how, but she knows I'm part-ghost. She knows I'm Dani Phantom. And she_ especially _must know that I'm from another dimension._

Trying to make sure she wasn't as nervous and panicked as she felt and trying to ignore how short and panicked-sounding her breaths were, Dani managed to stammer out, "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about."

Gothi scoffed.

"Please, Dani. I've been the shaman ever since I was your age; I can _clearly_ see that aura of death around you, though how you hide it so well, I'll never know, just as clearly as I saw the death in your eyes."

"Just as you clearly saw that Equinox chose me?" Dani asked, wary now but still nervous.

"That too."

Gothi saw Dani still looking at her warily and the old woman chuckled.

"Dear, like I said before, you have nothing to worry. I won't tell the others your secret."

"You won't?" Dani questioned, body tense, her mind running wild with images of Vikings rushing into the small hut yelling and trying to kill her.

"I won't. Your secret won't get past these lips, or this staff. And besides, it's _your_ secret to tell. It's not my business to tell the others, even though they're probably burning to know why Equinox chose you, someone who they believe is fully alive."

Dani still remained wary, but she felt a huge surge of relief. Gothi looked back at her and winked.

" _Relax_. You look as tense as Hiccup did before everyone in the village found out about Toothless. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

That last bit of assurance finally melted all of Dani's tenseness. She gave a tentative smile.

"Okay. Sorry. It's just a mentor of mine has always told me and my brother to be careful about keeping our secrets, well, _secret_ if we end up somewhere like this. No offence."

"None taken. That mentor of you and your brother sounds incredibly wise."

"Understatement," Dani muttered under her breath.

"And, I also gather your brother has the same secret as you?"

"Yep."

"Show me."

That comment took Dani by surprise.

"Wh-what?" she spluttered. "Show you what?"

"Show me your other form."

At that Dani's eyes widened.

"Are you crazy?!" Dani hissed. "If… if I change, it might alert the others outside! My transformation isn't exactly subtle. And I don't want to make the others suspicious if they see mysterious flashes of light coming from the hut, with me and you inside it, and-"

One look at Gothi's face told Dani that the old medicine woman was _not_ going to let Dani return to the Edge with Hiccup and the others _without_ seeing Dani change into her ghost form.

"Fine," Dani grumbled reluctantly, conceding to Gothi's stubbornness, as a smile played on the shaman's face.

Retreating to where she hoped only the tiniest slivers from the light of the transformation rings could leak through, Dani closed her eyes and muttered, "Going ghost."

A rush of cold pouring from her core filled her body as the white ring of light appeared, splitting into two and changing her appearance. Her raven hair changed to snowy white, her skin became tanner, her new Viking clothes and usual jeans morphing into a black two-piece jumpsuit with white and green accents, a white DP logo on her chest, and her new boots changed into her regular white ones. When she snapped open her formerly closed eyes, they were revealed to be an eerie, glowing ectoplasmic green instead of the usual icy blue.

Gothi looked at Dani's transformation in stunned amazement, her jaw practically hitting the floor, so still that Dani feared her transformation into her ghostly form had literally scared Gothi to death.

"Uh, Gothi?" Dani asked, floating back down to the ground and walking up to the medicine woman, kneeling down so that she could wave in her face. "You still there?"

That must have snapped Gothi out of whatever had befallen her, as she said in stunned amazement as she looked at Dani, "Well, if I had my doubts before, I _certainly_ don't have them now."

Relief flooded through Dani that her transformation hadn't actually killed Gothi, before she shortly felt confusion.

"Wait… you _doubted_ that I was part-ghost _before_ I transformed?"

"A little bit," Gothi admitted. "The last time someone claimed Equinox, well… things didn't work out so well."

Dani, having a feeling that the last time Equinox had been claimed, it was personal to Gothi. _Deeply_ personal. And something she wasn't going to share easily.

"Now," Gothi said, abruptly changing the subject, "you might want to change back, so as not to raise any suspicions if Gobber or Hiccup or Astrid walk in."

Dani, suddenly realising that she was still in ghost mode, blushed green in embarrassment and changed back to human form, hoping that nobody saw that sudden flash of light.

"Now," Gothi started again, settling down on the only chair in the cramped space, "with that out of the way, I want to talk to you about the _real_ reason I wanted you to come into my hut."

A trickle of icy dread ran down Dani's neck.

"And telling me you know my secret and want to see me go ghost just to confirm that I _am_ half- _dead isn't_ the real reason why you wanted me to come into your hut?" Dani inquired sarcastically.

Gothi must've not registered the sarcasm in Dani's tone as she answered, "Exactly that. Though, with a lot less attitude."

Okay, maybe she did a _little_.

"Dani, the _real_ reason that I wanted you to come into my hut was so that I could offer to train you."

"Train me in what? Dragon riding?"

The glare Gothi gave her _definitely_ told Dani that Gothi had registered the sarcasm in that.

"No. That _particular_ training is more Hiccup's forte. I meant in training you how to use Equinox. In your _other_ form."

Dani's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and fall onto the floor.

"Wh-what?" Dani managed to stammer out in bewilderment.

"Dani, I may not be the best sword teacher in Berk, but I _do_ know how to use a sword if need be. And, I know Equinox better than anyone else on the island. So I am willing to train you in using Equinox in your ghostly form; especially with _both_ of the sword's forms."

Dani, who had been nodding along to what Gothi said, could have done a classic spit-take at hearing the last of Gothi's sentences.

" _Both_ forms?"

"Like you, Equinox has a living form and a deathly form; the latter only accessible when you change into your second form. It's part of what makes Equinox a weapon of both life and death, only to be wielded by the one who is like it. And, in its death form, Equinox has a few _added_ benefits that it doesn't have in its living form."

"Ah," Dani said in understanding, feeling like she knew more about this mysterious sword than she first did, despite her having more questions about it.

Gothi, despite not having a watch, which probably didn't exist in this time period, said, "Now, I think I have kept you in here long enough. It will be wise that we go back outside and you, Hiccup and the other Riders return to the Edge."

"But, what if I want to stay longer and you start teaching me?" Dani suggested. Despite being creeped out by Gothi earlier, she had grown accustomed to the elderly woman. "I mean, there's so much about Equinox I wanna learn, especially its runes that glowed when I said it's name the first time."

"Tempting offer, but I feel that you better return to the Edge than stay any longer," Gothi politely refused. Dani pouted.

"As for the runes, well, they glowed when they heard the sword's chosen wielder say its name for the very first time," Gothi added. "Now, if you be so kind as to leave now?"

"But-" Dani started to protest, but Gothi fixed her with her unnerving stare, making Dani feeling a bit creeped out.

 _Okay, she's_ still _a little creepy_.

"Fine," Dani muttered and stood up, heading to the hut's cloth entrance, Equinox's sheath bumping on her leg.

"Remember, Dani; unless when you choose to tell them, keep that secret of yours a _secret_ ," Gothi told her. "And at all costs, _don't_ tell the others about our conversation in here."

Dani nodded, knowing that the old medicine woman was serious, and walked out of the hut.

Hiccup and Astrid were standing out there, looking worried, not noticing her at first. Gobber was nowhere to be seen.

 _He must have returned back to his forge_ , Dani thought.

"Hey guys," Dani greeted, making Hiccup and Astrid jump at hearing her and looked at Dani, worry melting from their expressions.

"Hey Dani. You okay?" Hiccup asked, the question confusing Dani a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"It's just that earlier, you looked _really_ uncomfortable when Gothi turned her attention to you," Astrid elaborated.

"Oh. In that case, no. Me and Gothi actually had a nice chat about Equinox," Dani told them, easily lying. Hey, it _was_ half the truth. They _did_ talk about Equinox before Dani had to leave.

Speaking of leaving, Dani glanced at the sky. The sun was really low in the sky, making the sky a brilliant vivid blue. Guessing from the years she spent living homeless on the streets before Jack and Maddie had adopted her, Dani reckoned that it was around late afternoon.

"I guess it's time to go now, right?" Dani guessed. Hiccup and Astrid nodded in confirmation.

Without another word, the three made their way down the steps of Gothi's almost treehouse-like hut, making their way through the village towards the square, where the other Riders and the dragons waited.

As they walked, Dani decided to break the silence and asked Astrid, "Hey Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could help me train to properly use Equinox? I'm not used to wielding weapons."

 _Well, except for my parents'_ modern anti-ghost _weapons, that is._

"Well, I'm not the best sword wielder, but I could teach you the basics," Astrid answered.

Dani smiled gratefully at Astrid. If she leaned the basics of training how to use a sword in her human form, then learning how to use Equinox in ghost mode with Gothi would be a piece of cake.

"Thanks, Astrid."

"Don't mention it."

After that, another silence landed. Dani was begging to ask Hiccup about how he got a prosthetic leg-was he born without one? Was it an accident? Was it because of an injury?-and what happened to Toothless' left tail-fin that required a prosthetic one, but felt that they might be too personal, especially when the person asking them was a near-stranger who kept secrets to herself.

 _For good reason!_ Dani thought to herself.

So, she kept those questions to herself, waiting until a time where those questions wouldn't be too personal for her to ask Hiccup about.

A minute later, they had arrived at the square. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were already on their respective dragons, prepared to go. Toothless and Stormfly, who must have been resting, perked up at seeing their Riders.

With expressions on their reptilian faces akin to happiness, Toothless and Stormfly ran to Hiccup and Astrid, but both dragons instinctively recoiled when they neared Dani.

 _Give it time,_ Dani thought. _They'll get used to you. Even to the point where they_ won't _have the instinct to kill you on sight._

Still, as soon as they were ready to go, Toothless, like back on the Edge, allowed her to ride on his back again, albeit with some grudging reluctance on his part.

Once everyone was ready, the dragons took to the air. Toothless had flew up so suddenly that Dani wrapped her arms tightly around Hiccup's waist, her new sword in its sheath clanking against her right hip and leg, before she let go as she soon began to enjoy the flight and the feel of wind in her face and running through her hair, a giddy grin on her face, as Berk became just a speck on the horizon, before it faded into the blue sky.

The flight back to Dragon's Edge had begun.

 **Cruddy at the end, I know. I had writer's block for it. Please don't kill me!**

 **Yeah, so Gothi knows! And, she's going to help train Dani use Equinox in its death form, while Astrid will help Dani know the basics of sword-fighting. So, prepare for some sword-training in later chapters!**

 **So now, Hiccup and the rest of the gang, including Dani, are returning back to the Edge! What will happen, you'll have to see in the next chapter…**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone! And here is a VERY late chapter of A Phantom On The Edge! I am so sorry that it took so long, but it's here now, and ready for you all to read!**

 **I hope you all like it, and that it's not too cruddy.**

 **Onto the story!**

 **Return Back To The Edge**

Somehow, the flight back to Dragon's Edge was longer than the flight to Berk, but Hiccup didn't mind. He loved the feel of flying, even though he technically wasn't flying. Being up high among the clouds, feeling the slightly cold, crisp wind ruffle his hair, and feeling a sort of weightlessness while at the same time feeling absolutely grounded… it was amazing. And knowing that he could trust Toothless to not drop him made it better.

When Hiccup looked behind him at his passenger, he could see Dani was also feeling the same. Her cheeks were red from the wind and her hair was whipping about behind her, but a giddy grin was on face and there was a look of pure delight in her eyes. Using a hand, she trailed it through the clouds, laughing at the wool-like softness of them.

Unbidden, Hiccup's eyes were drawn to Dani's new sword, Equinox. It was sheathed, and was resting on her right hip and leg, but Hiccup couldn't pretend that he felt _power_ from it. It felt ancient, and deadly, thrumming through the air around Dani. It made him feel uncomfortable and afraid, and one look at Toothless told Hiccup he was feeling exactly the same.

Dani, noticing Hiccup was still staring at Equinox, asked, "What?"

Tilting her head, Dani smiled. "Looking at my new sword, huh?"

"I've never seen anything like it before. Can you blame me for looking at it?" Hiccup said back.

"No," Dani replied. She looked at her new sword and asked, "Do you think that what Gothi said… it's all true?"

"Honestly, I didn't even know Equinox _existed_ until today. But based on both Gobber and Gothi's reactions to it, I'm willing to believe it could actually be true."

"If it _is_ true, then it's impossible that Equinox is a weapon between life and death and can only be wielded by someone in the same situation," Dani pointed out, her tone slightly nervous. "Like you said, it's a paradox."

"Maybe it's also like what you said. It got tired of waiting and chose the first person who gave attention to it," Hiccup mused, and Dani laughed.

"Maybe."

The conversion lapsed into silence, and Hiccup returned his attention forwards, questioning himself _why_ he didn't tell Dani about the power he felt from the sword…

… And when he and Dani were talking, why did it feel like Dani was lying?

…

 _That was close,_ Dani thought, eyes fixed on the expanse of blue ocean underneath, trying to keep her panic at how the conversation could have lead to him discovering her secret at bay, or at least be suspicious that she was keeping something paranormal a secret.

 _Snotlout was already suspicious on the day that I arrived… I don't need anyone else becoming suspicious too._ Especially _Hiccup._

Sighing, Dani tore her eyes away from the glittering sapphire sea and to the pillowy clouds surrounding her and enjoying the thrill of flying. True, she wasn't using her powers to fly, but just being up so high, with clouds surrounding her as far as she could see, feeling the crisply cool wind against her face and through her hair, the adrenaline that hummed throughout her veins, feeling completely weightless, yet also somehow grounded… it was a wonderful feeling.

Smiling, Dani relaxed into the feeling while also tamping down the urge to fly herself, since she refused to expose her secret, even though Gothi told her that it would be wiser for her to tell them her secret instead of them finding out.

 _But until I feel that I can trust them, and that it won't affect the time stream negatively, I won't tell them my secret. Not yet._

Dani looked at her sword and added mentally, _That is, if my new sword doesn't expose me first._

...

The flight back to Dragon's Edge took longer, somehow. But Dani didn't mind.

The sun warming her face as she listened to the wind and flap of wingbeats, Dani enjoyed this, revelling in the fact that she could enjoy flying without worrying about fighting a ghost. True, she could always go out and fly to relax herself at home, but those were rare moments, and she treasured them dearly. This was one of those moments, even though she wasn't at her home, or even in her correct time period.

All too soon, Dani could see the hazy outline of the Edge on the horizon, and a ball of disappointment at the fact they would have to land filled her stomach, her core not thrilled with the prospect of not flying for an indefinite amount of time soon approaching.

But looking around, Dani noticed that the other dragon riders were happy to see Dragon's Edge, so she just plastered a smile on her face and pretended she was just as excited as them.

 _Think of it this way, Dani; soon, once you've mastered the basics of sword-fighting, you can go back to Berk so that Gothi can teach you more about Equinox, and-_

A chill entered Dani's blood as she realised something.

Berk was an ocean away; she couldn't just drive a car or the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle there…

… She would have to _fly_ to get there.

Sure, it wouldn't be a problem because she _could_ fly, but Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, the twins and Snotlout would get suspicious, and Dani didn't want that pressure on her. She also knew she couldn't ask any of the others to take her there, not only because it could be seen as rude, but because they would ask questions, questions Dani wouldn't answer lest they put her secret in danger. And she couldn't just _swim_ the way there; who knew what lurked in these waters?

No, none of those options would work. The only one left was…

 _I have to ride my own dragon to Berk,_ Dani realised.

 **Short I know, and probably horrible. But I had some writer's block for this chapter. Sorry!**

 **So Dani is considering having to ride her own dragon so that she can go back to Berk for training with Gothi. What will happen? Will she get her own dragon, or will all of the dragons try to kill her? You'll have to see all that happen in the next few chapters.**

 **Please read and review!**

 **GhostWriterGirl out!**


End file.
